AT LONG last Brighouse Town Women have heard from the Women’s FA that they will indeed be playing their home Vitality 2nd round FA Cup tie with Newcastle United Women on Sunday, April 4 (1.00).

The tie should have been played on Sunday, January 3 but was postponed owing to the then latest covid-19 lockdown rules for non-elite sport.

Right now Town’s officials do not know if the Department of Culture, Media and Sport will allow a limited amount of spectators in to the Yorkshire Payments Stadium and other venues across the country for the ties, but work behind the scenes is going on in the hope they will allow the opening of the turnstiles.

Should Rob Mitchell’s team beat Newcastle they have been handed a third round draw away to Huddersfield Town the following Sunday, April 11 with a 2pm kick off.

In the meantime Mitchell has to continue to work at a distance with his squad to ensure they are at least fit. As their director of football Colin Tomkins said: “They are a dedicated squad and are chomping at the bit, and like ourselves Newcastle will have no match fitness as neither of us as played since December.”

Town player Amy Woodruff has qualified in the past week to become a firefighter.

AS EXPECTED at the end of last week the curtain was finally closed on the non-league season between Steps 3-6, but not with last year’s wording of `null and void’ but by the word `curtailed’ so the records are not scrubbed from the books.

More than 75% of the Trident clubs in seven divisions from the south coast to the extremes of Northumbria were in favour of stopping their campaigns if the season couldn’t restart by April 1 with crowds and hospitality.

The Pitching-In Northern Premier League’s chairman Mark Harris has said since the curtailment that his League is “extremely amenable” to a pyramid restructure that will see an eighth division at Step 4-Brighouse Town’s level-back on the table for next season, but says the mechanism must be robust so the legal eagles don’t swoop.

Ambitious clubs at Steps 5 and 6 are looking to move up but there is more to their `promotions’ than playing records. Some clubs would look at clubs nearer at hand the length and breadth of the country being put into this new division than having long and expensive journeys, while others and their spectators prefer variety and visiting new clubs.

Whether the Trident Leagues and the FA have time to sort out a new division for the 2021-22 season or it has to be work in progress for the 2022-2023 campaign remains to be seen.

In the meantime Town’s manager has called a Zoom meeting for all 12 clubs including his own for this coming Monday at 7pm to go through all the `nitty gritty’ to ensure there are no pitfalls for the competition, aired in recent weeks in Echo Sport, to commence on Tuesday, April 13.

The West Riding County FA have been notified and also the Northern Counties East League and North West Counties League from which the participating clubs will come.

All the clubs are hoping they will hear from the Prime Minister’s next Road Map statement on March 28 that they will then by the April start date be allowed to have a certain amount of spectators in and also be able to open their clubhouses. If there is no leeway until after the Elite Sport’s May 17 date for possible five figure crowds then the competition will not go ahead.

The curtailment of the non-league season from Steps 3-6 has also caused problems for ambitious referees hoping to move up the ladder. They need a minimum of ten reports to have been submitted to MOAS at the FA in the bowels of Wembley Stadium and a good majority are sat on eight and will probably have to write-off ambitions for this season.

In the meantime more work is being carried out by the club on the clubhouse and the hospitality suite in which the new club shop will also be sited, moving from the clubhouse. The main entrance off the terracing has also been neatly boarded up and will now see seating right along the wall. Entrance will be from the main walkway from the turnstiles which are also being moved to the outer perimeter fencing off the car park.

The floodlights are also due a lux lighting test in the next month with some maintenance work also on the pylon boxes.

Former players and team managers in their own rights at the club, namely Ray McLaughlin, Mark Booth, Tony Lyons, Darren Laycock, Barrie Fitzjohn and Barry Thomas have played a major part in moving thinks along in all weathers ready for a ground grading visit and also for when spectators are once more allowed in the Yorkshire Payments Stadium. The club is also indebted to former player and leading committeeman Chris Lister who has sponsored materials, vice-chairman Charlie Tolley and his company Andy Thornton’s Antiques and also Naylor Myers Ltd of Wakefield Road, Brighouse.

“Without our great team of volunteers and that also includes the likes of Trevor Priestley, Steve Ambler, Dave Rowland and Ellis Aked, we just couldn’t function at the professional and efficient level we do at this club, ” added Tolley.

Vice-chairman

An update on Steps 3-6 of the NLS
The FA’s Alliance and Leagues Committees have now considered the large amount of data
and information submitted by clubs across the National League System (NLS) Steps 3-6 as
part of a survey to gather views on the continuation or conclusion of the 2020-21 league
season, in addition to the information set out in the Government’s roadmap this week.
Submissions were made by 99.1% of clubs at Steps 3 and 4, and 95.8% of clubs at Steps 5
and 6. We would like to thank the clubs for submitting their views and the time taken in
providing responses during what we appreciate is an incredibly challenging period for
everyone.
The results of the survey showed that over 76% of all clubs across Steps 3-6 indicated a
preference to curtail the 2020-21 league season if it could not be restarted with limited
spectator numbers and hospitality before 1 April 2021.
During this process, taking into account views of clubs and leagues it was decided that
extending the 2020-21 league season beyond the end of May 2021 would not be a viable
option. This was due to various considerations, including the financial implications for many
clubs, player contracts and the extent of the fixture scheduling issues caused by the national
lockdown and various postponements which had resulted in there being 81% of matches left
to complete for Steps 3 and 4, and 75% at Steps 5 and 6.
Taking into account the survey results and the ongoing impact of Covid-19, which continues
to adversely affect incomes for clubs due to restrictions on both spectators and hospitality,
The FA’s Alliance and Leagues Committees have reached a consensus that subject to the
approval of FA Council, the 2020-21 league season for Steps 3-6 of the NLS should be
curtailed with immediate effect, with no further league matches taking place this season.
The Committees will now present their collective recommendations to The FA Council for
ratification.
It has also been decided that subject to FA Council’s decision regarding the curtailment of
the season at Steps 3 to 6, both committees will revisit discussions around a potential
restructure at Steps 4-6 of the NLS, which was previously agreed and has been on hold
since the 2019-20 season. A further update on this will be provided in due course.

AT THE time of going to print Brighouse Town AFC were still awaiting, despite the PM’s route out of Lockdown, on news of whether their NPL Division North West season for the second year running had been declared null and void.

With the further loss of the entire month of March and the possibility of playing at least 10 fixtures in that time against a backlog of in many cases 28-30 games, the entire club memberships along the M62 corridor were of the opinion that termination was the only option.

While grant aid is being received at Steps 3-6 to help with ground maintenance and utility bills, the universal feeling all along was that games couldn’t be played if spectators were not allowed in.

There is no Tier system this time around where a proportion of each club’s capacity attendance could be allowed in at the start of the 2020-21 campaign, so it will no doubt unfurl in the next few days what sort of crowds clubs at Town’s level could be allowed in for the regional competitions they plan, like Town’s under the directorship of their manager Vill Powell.

By May 17 in the latter stages of those competitions it will see maximum attendances for non-league clubs with Elite football being allowed 10,000 crowds unless there was a setback with covid figures failing to continuing to be in decline.

Town’s academy manager Simon Ward has produced a promotional video with the club’s media manager Damian Wales to attract this year’s Year 11 students and their parents/guardians to signing up for the full time academy programme. That includes B-Tech course work alongside football training and midweek league matches which can then lead towards Football League club apprenticeships and also university placings.

Sowerby Bridge-based Ward has been doing a sterling job in the past two educational years battling against the pandemic and unable to get his students out on to the pitch for games in the past twelve months.

The promotional film can be seen on httyps://youtu.be/ziJpGgcNu.

Brighouse Town’s women’s team are now hoping to hear, even if their NPL is declared null and void, if they can continue with their FA Cup run. The second round home tie with Newcastle United Women has been postponed since Sunday, January 3 because of the pandemic.

“They just need to know where they stand,” said director of football Colin Tomkins.

The financial legacy from the Tottenham-capped FA Cup run for Marine in Town’s league has led to plans for a 3G pitch to lead to even more community involvement and security for many years to come for the Liverpool club based in Crosby.