THE gates to the KMJ Mortgages Stadium will remain locked this weekend despite many minor leagues deciding to resume football after the second national lockdown ends today.

Whitchurch Alport – according to the fixtures schedule that is – ought to have been hosting Padiham on Saturday but following a meeting of the North West Counties League Management Committee late last week, the decision was taken to suspend the restart of the league season until December 19 at the earliest.

The decision followed the move to introduce tougher restrictions in England meaning that 40 of the NWCFL member clubs were in Tier 3 areas so wouldn’t have been allowed to admit spectators.

The league indicated at the beginning of the pandemic that football behind closed doors at Steps 5/6 was not sustainable for the majority of clubs and so the continued suspension of matches was the only decision they could have reached.

The government will be reviewing the tier levels again in two weeks but it’s understood that if spectators are still not permitted into stadiums, then the NWCFL will have no option but to carry the suspension into January.

An Alport official – who did not want to be named – has been left dumbfounded by the scenario.

“It’s crazy and I’m not the only one at the club who thinks so,” they said.

“Last week the league announced they were extending the season into June which in itself would have caused problems going into next season, and here we are talking about the likelihood of a January restart which means two months of the current campaign will have been put on hold.

“Why don’t we just write the season off and go again in August when, hopefully, this will all be behind us and there will be no restrictions placed on any clubs?”

Meanwhile, Alport are inviting applications for the position of chairman.

The position has been vacant since the resignation of Tony Rogers who decided to step down at the end of September.

Any interested applicant should head to whitchurchalport.com and follow the link online.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday, December 30 2020.