Future is still uncertain for Chorley amid Covid-19 crisis

The future remains unclear for Chorley as they await a definitive answer on how the 2019/20 National League season will be concluded.
Chorley chairman Ken WrightChorley chairman Ken Wright
Chorley chairman Ken Wright

At the end of last month, clubs in the top flight of non-league football voted to end the campaign early and not play their remaining games due to the coronavirus crisis.

However, whether the season should be declared null and void or should be concluded by way of an unweighted points per game ratio was not decided, with the board opting to wait on the Premier League and the English Football League’s next move.

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The EFL announced last week that if the Championship, League One and Two seasons could not be completed then promotion, relegation and the play-off positions would be decided via the points-per-game system.

But to further add to the uncertainty, League Two club voted earlier this month to end the season early, maintain promotion but suspend relegation.

Where all this leaves Chorley is unknown. Currently bottom of the table, the Magpies face relegation back to the National League North if the season is not declared null and void. “I honestly don’t know what is going to happen,” said Wright.

“Everything is just so unclear at the moment.

“There is all sorts of speculation about how the various leagues are dealing with the situation.

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“We are obviously in a precarious position being at the bottom of the league. If relegation is decided upon then we will be back in the NL North.

“If that has to be, that has to be. If there is the possibility that we can stay in the National League, then we would like that.

“The National League were waiting for what transpires in the EFL and have delayed announcing anything official.

“We still haven’t heard anything from them.”

No matter what happens specifically to the Magpies, Wright believes Covid-19 will change the landscape of football in the future

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“I think all this is a wake-up call for all football – whether we are speaking about the Premier League or the leagues coming down.

“The situation is there are going to be a hell of lot of players out of contract.

“There are going to be many clubs struggling financially as a result of the present circumstances and we are just one of a number of those clubs.”