Friday Freebie: Should games be played in June?
A close season or a no rest season
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This piece has opened up quite a bit of debate on Twitter this week, not started by me I hasten to add, but I had to get involved in it! There aren’t many sacred months in the football calendar, depending on which level you play at.
Non-league had an early finish this year in order to make Non League Finals Day as always the last fixture on the page. Granted due to the extremely poor weather last season there were fixtures still being completed on the same day or the next two weeks afterwards.
For some clubs they have been inactive since the third weekend of April and many will return to action in the first week of July. We certainly live in a different climate these days where players like to keep themselves ticking over in the close season, the question to be answered is should there be pre-season friendlies in June?
Whichever side of the argument you sit on, I don’t feel neither is the right answer. I love my football as much as all of you reading this, but having some downtime is not only sensible but gives a chance for a reset of all things.
For me 31st May signals the end of the old season and 1st June the beginning of the new one. That also works with contracts ending and clubs submitting accounts although the same can apply with 30th June and 1st July.
The FA on social media were getting blasted by a few for not allowing games in June but I can still see the point to that. It goes beyond spectators, groundhoppers and everyone really.
Let’s remember that clubs are run by volunteers. Whether you like it or not they have a life away from football, and for nine months at least of a year they put on a game every other weekend and in some cases every weekend if reserves or others use the same ground.
They generally don’t stop for much during the close season either, the only time to repair the ground, the pitch, plan and prepare for the new campaign. Get sponsorship, begin the admin tasks, housekeeping, keep the accounts ticking over, sort out the clubhouse hiring, it never really stops so any downtime these guys get they’re well entitled to it ahead of any friendlies in June, I should know, I’ve been there and done it for two seasons running a few years.
Not just the clubs, match officials deserve some time off from being sworn at! It’s not just a case of the players involved, but lets also remember that these guys and girls at some levels don’t just referee the Saturday game you’re watching, it’s Sunday, it’s midweek, it’s Under 23’s, it’s Under 18’s. The break is there for their benefit too given the amount they notch up most seasons.
I’ll flip it a little here and the reason that there is cause for games in June, the league start date for Step 5 and 6 in the lower levels. In the last few years, the FA Cup has added an Extra Prelim Round because of the amount of clubs now eligible to enter whilst creating the perfect pyramid.
That date is the first weekend of August which commonly was the opening league weekend. For a couple of years clubs went straight from pre-season into an FA Cup match, a crucial time for gaining prize money and prestige.
More recently clubs have asked to play a league game or two before they get into that competition, completely understandable. That has pushed start dates to the last weekend of July which in the context would make a four week pre-season beginning the last weekend of June.
But going back the other way again and one extremely important issue, insurance. Policies for clubs run from 1st July to I believe the end of May, or possibly valid until the final club game is played that season.
There is no insurance cover for June, should clubs be expected to shell out for another month where maybe just one or two games are played? And for players who might not even be there four weeks later to start the season? It might not be a huge amount but if you start allowing a game or two to creep into June, then I guarantee there will be those wanting to play as soon as May is in the rear view mirror.
We know full well 99% of players have no insurance of their own, so if clubs were allowed to arrange games but with no cover who is then liable if someone suffers a serious injury?
Pitches. They need a maximum amount of recovery time in order to be in tiptop condition to last a full season and given the weather we encountered last year every moment they can have to be repaired should be given.
Someone remarked on Twitter ‘it’s easy to hire a 3G pitch’. Head down to West Sussex, right where I live and actually isn’t an abundance of those pitches to use. I have within 20 minutes’ drive of my house around 10 clubs in a 12 mile vicinity.
Imagine all of them wanting to get on a 3G surface and get a game in, it’s just not possible. And the extra expense of getting that pitch, officials etc. I know clubs do tend to halve everything in some of those games, but just an extra expense in today’s climate that could be avoided.
Whilst tournaments for the kids are very much still around, there doesn’t seem to be much for the adults as there used to be, maybe that is another way round, small sided competitions which are allowed during this time.
 There are benefits to both sides of the argument here, the question is can everyone get a decent amount of time off in the close season?