As you will no doubt have seen, football activity has recommenced across the Club in recent weeks. We would like to thank the Southern League and The FA for their communication and support in enabling this to happen.
The Club has, as requested by The FA, appointed Covid-19 officers to oversee the implementation of our action plan and risk assessments. John Gregory, Stacey Hawkins and David Taylor have taken on this role and will be supported by the Board of Directors and our fantastic group of volunteers to ensure that Hayden Road is Covid-19 secure by the anticipated start of the 2020/21 season on September 19th. As much as we are planning for this date, we should all remember that the start date for the new season is provisional and could be subject to further change.
We are required to publish our Covid-19 Risk Assessment on the Club’s website by August 15th and our Covid-19 Officers are working hard to meet that deadline. There are a number of Risk Assessments that cover the return to playing football as well as the management of the site which is a joint effort between ourselves and Rushden & Higham Utd. We are also waiting for final details from The FA and Government on any restriction in capacity which may be necessary. We would encourage all members, supporters and visitors to Hayden Road to read these Risk Assessments before attending any event at Hayden Road.
This week, we have been able to confirm the pre-season fixtures for the 1st team and the first of those will take place this weekend at a neutral venue. Whilst we appreciate everyone’s eagerness to watch a game of football, regretfully current Government and FA guidelines are very clear that all pre-season matches must be played behind closed doors with no supporters present and only those Club Officials who are required to be there in attendance.
We are hopeful that as pre-season progresses, we will be able to provide Radio Diamonds and Twitter commentary on the matches but, for this weekend’s match at least there will only be limited Twitter coverage.
As a Club, we are committed to supporting the guidance laid out by the Government and The FA to ensure that when supporters are permitted back into grounds, that it is safe for us all.
Thank you all for your support and patience in these most difficult times; stay safe and we look forward to seeing everyone at Hayden Road as soon as it is safe to do so.
