Wont be starting without fans. Furlough ends very soon. There’s going to be a shed load of free agents available.

That means no relegation then? Not that more than 22 teams in our division will survive without fans for most or all of the season.

Quoted from GrimRob

That means no relegation then? Not that more than 22 teams in our division will survive without fans for most or all of the season.

Staying up, staying up, staying up.
Staying up, staying up, staying up.
Staying up, staying up, staying up.
Staying up!
Staying up!

Going to throw a spanner in the works of the restart of The Fishy Buster. 13 entrants have National League teams so I was planning on restarting it when The National League kicked off so it was fair on all entrants.

Looks like another re-think is going to be needed as I've been sat on the majority of the prize money since lockdown. If the National League isn't going to restart in the near future then maybe I'll have to look at donating the money I still hold to 1 or more charity.

Will wait for an official announcement before I make any decision,

Also means the FA Cup may have no National League including North & South divisions, So after this weeks games (1st Q/Round) the National League North and South should be in the draw for the 2nd Q/Round to be played 26th September (Can not see that hapening). Then the National League Prem should join in on 24th October (Just 4 weeks away , so unlikely). These dates can not be changed due to fixture congestion, so how do they get out of this one!

So will we have 32 teams of Norther Premier League or equivalent in the 1st Round proper?

The prize money for these smaller clubs is massive, £3,000 for the winners this week, and up to £12,500 for the 4th Q/Round.

It’s not confirmed but seems a decent sauce:

https://twitter.com/jimw1/status/1308345182648229890?s=21

Quoted from psgmariner

It’s not confirmed but seems a decent sauce:

https://twitter.com/jimw1/status/1308345182648229890?s=21

Jim White will just love the drama, twit!

How about giving all the national team a random league team that’s available continueing existing score  

Quoted from Ipswin

Jim White will just love the drama, twit!

Different one

(Manc fella from the Telegraph)

Quoted from Abdul19

Different one

(Manc fella from the Telegraph)

Probably just as bad, all sports journos seem to be lapping it up, revelling in the drama. Much less said when 'owt goes well!

Simplest thing is just to mothball the National League (all 3 divs) for the whole season and just restart when the coast is clear. Just like in 1945 when the war ended. Feel sorry for the pros and fans, but they made the mistake of believing Boris's October date.

Quoted from crusty ole pie

How about giving all the national team a random league team that’s available continueing existing score  

Yeah, that's what I am going to do. I have PM'd those with National League teams to let them know.

I can then restart the Buster as planned weekend beginning 2nd October.

Quoted from GrimRob

Simplest thing is just to mothball the National League (all 3 divs) for the whole season and just restart when the coast is clear. Just like in 1945 when the war ended. Feel sorry for the pros and fans, but they made the mistake of believing Boris's October date.

Yes but to be fair to Boris when that date was mooted no one knew that so many people would just disregard the rules willy nilly and consequently the infections would rise so dramatically. I don’t think you can blame Boris for other people’s poor behaviour. As some one else posted no government has got experience of a world pandemic. Even those countries that initially seemed to deal with it better than the UK seem to be suffering now. The whole thing is a mess and I do wonder whether shutting down the 3 National Leagues for the whole season is indeed a good idea. It could even be the same for Leagues 1 and 2 as well unless the Premier League helps. Fat chance of that though, more chance of pigs flying. #UTM

Quoted from GrimExile

Yes but to be fair to Boris when that date was mooted no one knew that so many people would just disregard the rules willy nilly and consequently the infections would rise so dramatically. I don’t think you can blame Boris for other people’s poor behaviour. As some one else posted no government has got experience of a world pandemic. Even those countries that initially seemed to deal with it better than the UK seem to be suffering now. The whole thing is a mess and I do wonder whether shutting down the 3 National Leagues for the whole season is indeed a good idea. It could even be the same for Leagues 1 and 2 as well unless the Premier League helps. Fat chance of that though, more chance of pigs flying. #UTM

It was after a certain Dominic Cummings did what he did that you heard a collective "fook it, what's good for them is good for us". He also allowed pubs and restaurants to re-open, and even encouraged people to go with cheap, government backed offers. All this before important stuff like schools and hospitals were allowed back on line.

It seems anything related to keeping the money pouring in for his chums and backers is allowed to carry on. Get on a packed tube train and go to work, go out for lunch, no problem.

Quoted from GrimExile

Yes but to be fair to Boris when that date was mooted no one knew that so many people would just disregard the rules willy nilly and consequently the infections would rise so dramatically. I don’t think you can blame Boris for other people’s poor behaviour. As someone else posted no government has got experience of a world pandemic. Even those countries that initially seemed to deal with it better than the UK seem to be suffering now. The whole thing is a mess and I do wonder whether shutting down the 3 National Leagues for the whole season is indeed a good idea. It could even be the same for Leagues 1 and 2 as well unless the Premier League helps. Fat chance of that though, more chance of pigs flying. #UTM

Take the point but IMHO opening everything up again was far more to blame than people disregarding the rules. People have been complaining about rules being disregarded since day 1 but the cases kept falling and it was only when the holiday season started and people started moving around a lot more that the cases started to rise. They could have restricted international travel in particular but it was deemed too important for the UK economy to get tourism up and running. The football industry is puny in comparison. If you add up the whole of football in the UK it's about the same size as one FTSE 100 company. So it's easy for a minister looking through his/her economic prism to effectively disregard football and like most people they probably think football is the Premier League anyway.

Quoted from Ipswin

Much less said when 'owt goes well!

The irony!

Quoted from crusty ole pie

How about giving all the national team a random league team that’s available continueing existing score  

Laugh out loud wrong thread

Quoted from GrimRob

Take the point but IMHO opening everything up again was far more to blame than people disregarding the rules. People have been complaining about rules being disregarded since day 1 but the cases kept falling and it was only when the holiday season started and people started moving around a lot more that the cases started to rise. They could have restricted international travel in particular but it was deemed too important for the UK economy to get tourism up and running. The football industry is puny in comparison. If you add up the whole of football in the UK it's about the same size as one FTSE 100 company. So it's easy for a minister looking through his/her economic prism to effectively disregard football and like most people they probably think football is the Premier League anyway.

You make a very good point too Rob. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that irrespective of anyone’s political beliefs no government anywhere on this planet has experience of how to deal with a world pandemic and mistakes are inevitable. Sad but true. #UTM