MCFC Football in January 2021
Posted: Thursday 31st December 2020
Further to the Government announcement yesterday, moving Middleton Cheney/Northamptonshire from Tier 3 into Tier 4, the MCFC Committee met this morning to discuss how this change will impact training and matches.
With the new tiering system, there are now restrictions on many things such as travelling out of our direct 'area'. For example, as Banbury and Middleton Cheney are in different geographical 'areas' (defined by county boundaries) it is currently not possible for players from Banbury to play/train in Middleton and vice versa.
This clearly adds some complexity to both training and league matches, not made any easier when our junior teams play in leagues 'outside of our area'. eg, Oxfordshire, Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire.
Therefore, as a Committee, we feel the best option is to postpone training and matches (including friendlies) for all teams on Saturday 2 January 2021 and also w/c 4 and 11 January 2021, until the Government make their next announcement on the tiering system on 13 January 2021.
We are reviewing this decision at our next Committee meeting scheduled for Thursday 14 January 2021 and will communicate the outcome of this immediately afterwards.
Please note that as part of our discussions, we have considered forming two training hubs in Brackley and Banbury to allow players from each area to continue training. However we feel that mixing age groups will defeat the object of socially distancing and is not within the spirit of the guidance to reduce Covid-19 cases.
As mentioned, we will be in touch after the next Government announcement, when we also expect to have further guidance from the FA about next steps and hopefully the resumption of football for all of our teams.
Best wishes & Happy New Year!
Middleton Cheney FC Committee