BRIGHOUSE TOWN’S hopes of continuing their season a week today with their first training session together for a month and resumption of the Pitching-In North West Division League on Tuesday, November 8 depends on the tier system Calderdale is placed in today and many of their opponents across the M62 corridor.
With the tier systems set to have more stringent measures in them as they become tier 2 plus and tier 3 plus, the season is on a knife edge. The League and Steps 3-7-Town are step 4- have planned for a re-opening of their fixtures from on Saturday week, with the majority plumping for week commencing December 7. The respective leagues in those steps, who were playing in front of restricted crowds before the second lockdown caused non-elite sport to close its doors once more, have all made plans to resume, including Town who will entertain Bradford NCEL premier Division club Thackley on Saturday, December 5 at 3pm in a warm up game.
Town manager Vill Powell was set to also play warm up games at Sheffield FC and Handsworth over Tuesday and Wednesday nights of the 8th and 9th of December until the NPL rulers stepped in late last week and informed everyone it was a resumption of the league programme. Town will now travel to Manchester and in the shadow of the Theatre of Dreams take on Trafford FC on Tuesday week, December 8 (7.45).
Town should have been at Trafford on December 5 but the League have agreed with all their member clubs they can restart the week after so a training session or two together can take place.
The League have also informed clubs that their postponed November programme will be played in May and that will include a trip to Liverpool to take on Marine who entertain Brian Stock’s Havant & Waterlooville on Sunday in front of the BT Sport cameras in the second round of the Emirates FA Cup.
Town’s director of football Charlie Tolley said yesterday ahead of the announcement on tiers and more news then coming from the FA and the NPL that it is essential his team continue to play in front of crowds.
“We are on a financial road to disaster like a lot more at our level if we cannot have spectators in, ” said Tolley, who also added that he was also desperate to see the bar and catering kitchen kept open in some form.
“We have to make money on the weeks we are given a home game from all revenue streams and the shutdown in November has been particularly harsh for us as we had three very good sponsored home games scheduled. Right now we are not due a league game until December 19 when Workington are the visitors.”
