BRIGHOUSE TOWN Football Club’s youngest fan Madison Rowlands is all dressed up these days after her present of a club kit from Father Christmas but finds herself with nowhere to go with the club’s season paused owing to the pandemic.

The four-year-old, who attends Little Learners Nursery, Church Lane, Brighouse, is a regular normally at Town’s home games with her dad Jordan and granddad Steven Ambler, the club’s long term photographer and kit washer.

“She is a real sporty type and loves to cheer on the team when they are playing, and she can’t really understand when she sees the players on television playing and her beloved `Orange Army’ aren’t,” said Steven, who purchased the kit with grandma Carole.

“Both her dad and I have told her it will be a little later this year when she can watch the team in safety again and we can all enjoy our live football again.”

Dave Parker

THE MOST important man at Brighouse Town Football Club right now with his finger on the pulse is the club’s long serving treasurer David Wormald.

The former referee who lives within a good goalkeeper’s punt of the Yorkshire Payments Stadium in Hove Edge is busy form filling for grant aid and ensuring his beloved club keeps its head above water while the Pitching-In Northern Premier League season is in pause mode owing to the pandemic.

Local government and central government grant aid has been covered for a second time and now he is awaiting the news all Step 3 to Step 6 clubs hope to hear over the next seven days that the the Government’s £14 million Winter Survival package for those steps has been released.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced this package in November but at the time it was looking like being more of a loan. Since then the second wave of Covid -19 and the new variant has seen all member clubs in those steps forced to close their doors and with no guaranteed income. Town have been without a home game since Saturday, December 19 when Workington were the visitors in a 1-1 draw.

Wormald has, as revealed earlier, covered the second shutdown of rateable value and business loans, and now has focused on hearing from the FA at Wermbley or via the DCMS to see when he can look for the club’s share of the £14m.

Local clubs like FC Halifax Town and Bradford Park Avenue in the National Leagues -Steps 1 and 2-have received £10 million via the National Lottery while they continue to play behind closed doors and look for more grant aid.

The lower non-elite clubs now urgently look to their share out to take more pressure off them as they look to at least another six months before they can enjoy paying spectators once more coming through their turnstiles.

Some clubs across the country are looking at holding local competitions in April and May with the permission of their Leagues if the players are allowed back into training in late March should the Government relax the Tier measures on the success of the vaccination programme and the `R’ No declining as a result to take the pressure off the NHS.

Dave Parker

BRIGHOUSE TOWN officials are to vote in a survey for the current 2020-21 Pitching-In NPL North West Division season to be declared null and void as per last season.The majority of their contemporaries across Steps 3 and 4 the length and breadth of the country appear to feel the same way.

The completed surveys will then see the managements of the NPL, Isthmian and Southern Leagues-known now as the Trident Leagues-work through the replies they have received.

The NPL chairman Mark Harris has outlined every scenario for his members after stating that it is unlikely right now with the covid restrictions for non-elite footballers-a term he does not like-that fixtures would not recommence until early March and then the players would want two weeks to get back somewhere near match fitness. This, he adds, with the amount of outstanding fixtures and the season ending on May 31 would see the players playing three games a week. He further adds they could not take the season into June with pitch maintenance, long overdue holidays for volunteer staff, players and management and then a recall in July for pre-season with the FA Cup rounds to commence to keep them on schedule for when the televised ties come on stream.

The Trident Leagues have postponed all fixtures up to and including Saturday, March 6. What happens after that will be entirely influenced by the clubs’ views. All of whom say they cannot continue without paying spectators and under a Tier 2 or Tier 1 open their gates for the extra revenue from the bars and food hatches.

In the meantime Town have seen promising goalkeeper Jacob Carney return to parent club Manchester United who are keen to see him continue with a club.

Carney, after a nervy start at Kendal Town on Saturday, October 17 in the Buildbase FA Trophy, went on to show why the Premier Division club have given him an extended contract.

Bill Emmerson, secretary of Northern Ireland Premiership club Portadown, confirmed yesterday morning that his manager was in talks with both United and the player with a view to him joining them for the rest of the season.

Halifax-based left fullback Reece Kendall, who left Town in the past close season for NPL Premier Division club Matlock Town, has joined National League North Guiseley on loan for the rest of the season. Guiseley are currently one place above the drop zone after 14 games and facing two games a week from now in barring any postponements along the way.

BRIGHOUSE TOWN Women’s manager and director of football Colin Tomkins, along with other club officials across the country, has reacted strongly to a suggestion from the Women’s FA Cup committee at Wembley to the possibility of deciding who goes through the second round and the third round of the cup by the toss of a coin.

Tomkins, still hopeful of entertaining Newcastle United Women in round two, commented: “Yes, we have heard and seen a suggestion the FA ( Kelly Simmons) are considering this idea. “It was all over Twitter at the weekend and the pundits of BBC’s Football Focus on Saturday lunchtime referred to it. I can tell you, people are not happy about it. It’s a bit demeaning and a joke, if you ask me.”

All competing clubs are in the same Tier 4 and so there is no crossover as was the case when the draw was made. There is talk of clubs asking for grant aid to stage the ties behind closed doors as is the case with the men’s FA Cup. This, they feel, would allow the competition to progress and towards the televised stages of the competition without controversy and obvious bitter disappointment if a ball wasn’t kicked.

Dave Parker

BRIGHOUSE TOWN’S season has been paused once more by the National Lockdown announced by the Prime Minster on Monday evening.

Classed as non-elite sport from Steps 3-7, Town, in step 4, will not play another league fixture in the 2020-21 season until possibly March, if at all.

They had been informed by the League’s General Manager Angie Firth only days before the announcement that there would be no fixtures until after at least January 12 owing to the alteration in Tiers. This had brought about non-travel from Tier 3 and 4 of which the Pitching-In Premier League North West Premier and Division One North West and Division One South East had crossovers.

The League management committee have meetings arranged via Zoom and they will also be inviting club representatives to sit in on some of them.

With Town still having 27 more league games to play it is looking increasingly likely that one of these meetings may in fact bring about a closure to a season that was before the latest break in late December heading for an end of May finish. Playing twice a week if a go-ahead was given ahead of Easter, then it would be an end of June finish.

Town’s manager Vill Powell to keep his players ticking over had arranged a match last Saturday at Golcar United, but frost and snow saw that called off. The two managers then looked at playing it this past Tuesday night at the Yorkshire Payments Stadium but there again a frozen pitch knocked that on the head. A possible home warm up game with Liversedge next Tuesday was also pulled following the Prime Minister’s announcement. Town’s extra training base at the West Riding County FA on the outskirts of Leeds has also been closed as a result.

In the meantime Town have re-signed experienced Doncaster-based wide player Zeph Thomas from Selby Town. Thomas left Town at the end of the 2018-19 season for Belper Town before moving to Selby for this season. It looked very much with the signing as if Powell was covering in the squad the temporary loss of Alhassane Keita who is working towards a work permit with his Leeds-based solicitor before he is allowed to play on.

Town’s management will now have to look towards notifications from the League and the FA with regards grant-aid and help all round to ensure they can keep their heads above water.

They coped very well in the first lockdown and came back strongly over the summer with the refurbishment and new kitchen at their clubhouse which has come in for praise from their local MP Craig Whittaker, who was at the December 19 game with Workington Town, and his Calderdale Council councillor daughter Sophie Whittaker who joined him, plus many others.

BRIGHOUSE TOWN Women’s 2nd round FA Cup tie at home to Newcastle United Women planned for last Sunday afternoon was postponed once the away side was placed in Tier 4 some 72 hours ahead of travelling. They were not allowed to come south into Tier 3 and the programme of ties across the country were also postponed.

The team’s director of football Colin Tomkins had, just hours ahead of the latest lockdown, not heard what plans there were from the FA for the the ties to be played.

With the Premier clubs set to come in after this round and with television to work alongside major sponsorship waiting in the wings, this is some headache for the Women’s FA to break the deadlock.

To keep his players in action manager Rob Mitchell tried to fix a league game with Bradford City for last Sunday but that fell through and he finds himself right now like the men’s team boss, Vill Powell, with both his hands tied as to when a serious ball will be kicked in anger again in the early part of 2021.

Dear Member.
I am writing to update you with regard to the continuation, or otherwise, of the 2020/21 league
season, given the latest position concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.
The board of the Northern Premier League has, together with our fellow Trident Leagues, reviewed
the implications of the latest government lockdown. The matter was also discussed at length by The
FA’s Alliance Committee earlier this week.
In order to reach a decision that will apply across Steps 3 & 4 in the National League System, and
which is informed by the views of all clubs at Steps 3 & 4, you will shortly be asked by the Football
Association to provide your club’s views on whether the 2020/21 season should be terminated and,
if not, what the alternative should be. This will take the form of a short survey.
Independent of that survey, all three of the Trident League’s boards hold the view that the season
should cease immediately and be declared null and void.
The ultimate decision lies with The FA Council, following a proposal made by the Alliance Committee
but no proposal will be drafted until clubs’ views have been collated and assessed.
In the meantime, the Northern Premier League is postponing all fixtures up to and including
Saturday 6th March since there is no suggestion that the national lockdown will be lifted prior to this
date.
The League will continue to provide its Member Clubs with updates as and when it is able to do so.
In the meantime, take care and stay safe.
Yours sincerely
Mark Harris
Chairman.