Mick O’Connell insists the FA made a massive mistake not localising the leagues for the 2020/21 season.
They all said that local leagues would reduce travelling in the pandemic and also give the campaign the best chance of finishing after the expected second wave.
However, despite warnings the FA and most of the leagues drove themselves into a debacle which has ended with the season being “curtailed” after just six weeks of football and O’Connell feels vindicated.
“We were definitely right and they (the FA) should have done something about it,” O’Connell told Non League Yorkshire.
“Stevie Wonder could see what was coming, it was inevitable what was going to happen.
“Anyone who thought otherwise was very naive.
“A lot of people can be short-sighted and they think ‘everything will be ok’.
“It is not that simple. It (the pandemic) was bad in the summer so it was always going to be ten times worse in the winter.
“The FA should have made the format different this year.
“It should have localised and minimised, that’s for sure.
“If we’d gone down the local leagues route we would have played eight games or so before the beginning of November and now we’d have a chance of finishing the season in April.
“We’d be sat here now talking about who could go up and who could go down.
“I think they (the FA) were naive (starting a full season), but from Championship downwards whatever pressure you put on them or how much you air your concerns, it falls on deaf ears half the time.”
The FA’s statement was fairly unclear as the campaign was not made null and void and promotion or relegation was not ruled out either.
But they did say that will “revisit” the plan to restructure the lower reaches of Non League football – a scheme O’Connell is a firm advocate of.
“I’m just glad that they have come out and said something,” he said.
“I know it was difficult for them to make a decision because they were waiting for Boris, but because the National North and South is null and void has helped make it easy for them.
“I still don’t like that they are sitting on the fence in terms of the way they haven’t said it is null and void or PPG. We still don’t know if there’s going to be promotion or relegation so we’re still none the wiser.
“Now is the time to definitely restructure though.
“There’s far too much travelling for what we are. Let’s not beat around the bush, it is glorified amateur football.
“A lot of people think they are semi-professional footballers, but I think we are a million miles away from semi-professional football in a few ways.
“They need to minimise the travelling, especially after what has happened this year. No-one is going to have a load of money to chuck about.
“Sponsors are going to be hard to come by because why would you sponsor next season when you only got eight games for your money in the previous season?
“It is a tricky situation that’s everyone is in.
“They’ve been banging on about restructuring for two years and they’ve not done anything.
“I’ve said it a million times, but Skegness should not be in our league. It is far too far away for anyone to travel to, pandemic or no pandemic.
“It doesn’t sit right with me. You have people on next to nothing for travelling expenses and they’re expected to travel to Skegness on a Saturday afternoon and get back at 8pm or 9pm.
“They need to have a long hard look at it now. I mean, what have they been doing for the last 12 months?”
The next big decision to be made is probably about if clubs will be able to play friendlies or in a potential NCEL League Cup in April or May.
O’Connell supports the idea of playing fixtures, but he has caveats.
“I think it is a good idea getting back doing something, but only if we can get people in the grounds,” he said.
“I think if we can’t get people in the grounds then it is pointless.
“Clubs still need to have some form of revenue to put games on as there is still stuff to pay for like referees.
“I’ve seen the NCEL post something about a League Cup competition.
“Something like that may be a good idea, provided we can get people in the ground and make a bit of revenue.”
If you have enjoyed reading Non League Yorkshire over the past few months, please consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page. There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams. When we properly return to ‘action’, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
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