FA Trophy resumption?

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juanillo
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FA Trophy resumption?

Post by juanillo » 05 Jul 2020, 19:49

According to the Sunday Times today:

'The finals of the 2019-20 FA Trophy and FA Vase - England's top competitions for non league teams - are set to be played at Wembley before the 2020-21 season begins. The FA want to complete both competitions, which were suspended at the semi final stage because of the Coronavirus shutdown. Notts County, Harrogate Town, Halesowen and Concord Rangers are left in the FA Trophy while Bitton AFC, Consett, Corinthian and Hebburn Town are still in the FA Vase.'

I can't find any confirmation of this, but it would be a big incentive to the club if true.

AwayDayYeltz
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Re: FA Trophy resumption?

Post by AwayDayYeltz » 06 Jul 2020, 12:24

I see no reason why the Semis couldn't be played in neutral grounds, I.e Spurs new ground, with fans. You could easily social distance us and Concord fans in that ground.

I guess the only issue would be how would you get to and from the ground as safe as possible? You couldn't organise a coach service, unless you social distance on the coaches, but would that be financially viable?

There's be no reason why you couldn't have fans at the final, either.
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andy
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Re: FA Trophy resumption?

Post by andy » 07 Jul 2020, 12:54

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piearce9
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Re: FA Trophy resumption?

Post by piearce9 » 08 Jul 2020, 11:18

I'm starting to get a bit flappy about the Trophy now. The FA have always said they have the intention of completing the competition, which is reassuring, but the latest indication is that they want this to happen before the resumption of next season.

That makes sense in a way, as it would be a bit weird to kick off the 20/21 season whilst the previous season's competitions are still outstanding. But seeing as the most recent update suggested the league campaigns would kick off in September - this would mean the Trophy needs to be done and dusted by this point.

Extending this logic, I can't imagine they'll be in a position to allow us to have 3000 people in The Grove at the end of August, so really we're looking at a behind closed doors completion of the competition.

And this is what bothers me. From a personal perspective, even if the games are streamed, it's not going to be the same occasion and it would feel like they're completing the fixtures just to get them boxed off and to move on. Even more concerningly is the loss of revenue to the club. We'd have to refund semi final tickets (£30k of exposure + loss of matchday revenue). And for the Wembley finalists - assuming 20000 fans at £25 a ticket - that's £500K to be split across four clubs. Absolutely massive, and that's not including prize money or TV monies.

My preference is that they park the games until the time is right to have the crowds there. Yes, it might be Xmas time or even next year, but I simply don't want the competition to be completed by kickarounds in empty stadiums. I would hope the club will see it the same way and push for a resumption of the Trophy when crowds are permitted.

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Re: FA Trophy resumption?

Post by HalesowenHarry » 08 Jul 2020, 14:27

piearce9 wrote:
08 Jul 2020, 11:18
Extending this logic, I can't imagine they'll be in a position to allow us to have 3000 people in The Grove at the end of August, so really we're looking at a behind closed doors completion of the competition.

And this is what bothers me. From a personal perspective, even if the games are streamed, it's not going to be the same occasion and it would feel like they're completing the fixtures just to get them boxed off and to move on. Even more concerningly is the loss of revenue to the club. We'd have to refund semi final tickets (£30k of exposure + loss of matchday revenue). And for the Wembley finalists - assuming 20000 fans at £25 a ticket - that's £500K to be split across four clubs. Absolutely massive, and that's not including prize money or TV monies.
I don't believe they will kick them off behind closed doors.......... the semi's could be a one off game at a neutral league ground, where you'd easily accommodate the supporters of both us and Concorde you'd think. Not ideal, but I'd take this over either never playing it, or behind closed doors.

As for the final, they probably need to make the Vase and Trophy finals separate, but lets worry about that if the semis get completed and we're bothered about it.

Prize money as it stands is 2 losing semis £5,000 each, 2 winning semis £15,000 each, runners up £30,000 and winners £60,000, if it can't be played in front of us, then I'd happily have that total quartered between the 4 clubs (£32,500).............

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andy
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Re: FA Trophy resumption?

Post by andy » 08 Jul 2020, 17:58

Surely it would HAVE to be behind closed doors as it stands, that is how they are finishing the leagues, play offs etc. If by the start of next season they are allowing fans in at all they may as well just say everything is now a free for all. In fact they may as well anyway with the way some people are acting. Coronavirus, what coronavirus?
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lutleyyeltz
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Re: FA Trophy resumption?

Post by lutleyyeltz » 08 Jul 2020, 19:43

I'm with you on this, Andy.
Social distancing is going to be with us for a long time yet and how it can be carried out successfully, at somewhere such as The Grove, is open to conjecture.
Seating might be manageable - but open terraces?

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Re: FA Trophy resumption?

Post by Simons » 08 Jul 2020, 20:25

The article on the Southern League site says, "the FA has re-iterated its intention to play the finals at Wembley, and said it is in close touch with the Government about when playing games with spectators present might be possible – although this obviously depends on further lifting of restrictions necessary to stem the pandemic.

It is understood the FA Vase and FA Trophy finals will still be played on the same day, and Wembley has been approached about available dates."

The other semi finalists Notts County and Harrogate could end up playing each other for a place in the Football league. The National league play off final is scheduled for 2 August at Wembley (behind closed doors), so you would think that despite the statement, as the FA Trophy belongs to this season it would have a similar fate.

The statement also says it will be played before the new season starts, and I have heard the 12 September being mentioned as a tentative start date, but as the FA have said the season won't start without fans being present, I would be very surprised if that were to be the case.

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Re: FA Trophy resumption?

Post by Noggin » 08 Jul 2020, 22:06

lutleyyeltz wrote:
08 Jul 2020, 19:43
I'm with you on this, Andy.
Social distancing is going to be with us for a long time yet and how it can be carried out successfully, at somewhere such as The Grove, is open to conjecture.
During the last of the daily UK Govt briefings in an under-reported response the CMO was asked about a return to normality. His reply was that that would require either a treatment or a vaccine being available. Even with the normal sequential development stages being done in parallel and with the approval process being done as a Exceptional Usage Approval rather than a full submission, this is not going to be a short timescale.

The FA (quite rightly) has a reputation for world class mis-management, but I believe that permitting large crowds In current circumstances is unlikely, even by their woeful standards

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Re: FA Trophy resumption?

Post by piearce9 » 08 Jul 2020, 22:16

Noggin wrote:
08 Jul 2020, 22:06
Even with the normal sequential development stages being done in parallel and with the approval process being done as a Exceptional Usage Approval rather than a full submission, this is not going to be a short timescale.
This isn’t something I ever imagined reading on the Yeltz forum, I’ll be honest.

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