November 26, 2020 - 1528 views
Colwyn Bay FC manager Craig Hogg has his squad back in full training following the Wales lockdown', but believes there may be still a way to go before Wales follow England who are allowing grass roots football to start up again next week with limited crowds allowed in to some grounds.
"It has been really encouraging to see the stance the English Government has taken with a view to getting fans back in stadiums at nearly all levels of the game over there," said Craig.
"I’d imagine that the devolved governments of Scotland and Northern Ireland will be making similar decisions in the coming weeks, but it’s hard to gauge what Wales will do on that front. The size of our NHS and the risk to that being overwhelmed is clearly greater for us, when compared to the other home nations with a larger health infrastructure.
"As far as we are aware an application to the Sports Council of Wales to elevate Tiers 2 and 3 to elite status was submitted nearly three weeks ago, but as of today, we are yet to hear what the outcome of that has been.We do know that whatever decision the sports council take on that, it will then need to be ratified by the FAW, so there’s a bit of a way to go.
"With all that in mind we feel that yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel, but we just don’t know how bright it is.
"On the training front we reported back in the week after the firebreak ended and the lads did well. The group is obviously much smaller than when we were last together however. I’m really proud of the way our lads have conducted themselves and they have all shown great attitude throughout all of this.
"When you look at it, they’ve had a three month pre-season, been messed around with no season start date and then they’ve had to go into a dormant state again because of a Conwy county lockdown, followed by another national lockdown shortly after.
"The irony is that we are back in for training, but we can’t currently play any friendlies under the 30 person rule, as we don’t have a goal keeper available because both of ours are based in England and they still can’t travel over the border.
"For now we are focused on training until a decision one way or the other is made by someone.
"Once we know for certain what is going on, we will then look to get some friendly games played and try to be as ready as we can be, for whatever the season ultimately looks like - if there is one."
Reproduced with thanks to Colwyn Bay FC.
