North West County FAs Grassroots Football Statement
The following information applies to Grassroots Football at Step 7 and below:
Earlier this week the government announced plans to simplify Covid19 restrictions by categorising all local authorities or boroughs as:
- Medium – Tier One
- High – Tier Two
- Very High – Tier Three
Most of the North West was placed in Tier Two from the outset other than Liverpool and surrounding areas such as St. Helens, Knowsley, Sefton, Halton and Wirral.
This morning the government announced that it had reached an agreement with Lancashire to place the following Lancashire boroughs and unitary authorities into Tier Three and further communications are expected in relation to Greater Manchester.
The following defines which local authorities are aligned to which regions and which Tier they are in:
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Lancashire – All Tier 3 |
Cheshire – All Tier 2 |
Greater Manchester – All Tier 2 |
Cumbria |
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Fylde Wyre Blackpool South Ribble Chorley Preston West Lancashire Blackburn with Darwen Hyndburn Rossendale Pendle Burnley Ribble Valley
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Cheshire West & Chester Cheshire East Warrington
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Bolton Bury Manchester Oldham Rochdale Salford Stockport Tameside Trafford
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Carlisle – Tier 1 Allerdale – Tier 1 Eden – Tier 1 Copeland – Tier 1 South Lakeland – Tier 1 Barrow in Furness – Tier 2
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The following guidance applies to all County FA’s in Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Westmorland and Cumberland.
Further guidance for Liverpool FA will be provided directly from the County FA.
- With immediate effect based on the guidance currently provided adult clubs and individuals cannot move in or out of a ‘Very High’, Tier 3 region or local authority to participate.
- With regards to youth football (Under 18’s) the FA guidance of 18th July with its strict conditions remains in place. At this present time there are no new restrictions on movement of youth teams and players irrespective of which Tier you are in.
There maybe local restrictions per local authority/borough which supersedes any provisions in the FA Guidance, for example, Spectators attending matches.
We cannot stress enough the critical importance of all involved in the game doing their level best to allow the grassroots game to continue. The key guidance remain as follows:
- Social distancing wherever possible for players, and always in the case of spectators
- Robust hygiene standards as per risk assessments but including the wearing of masks in toilet blocks etc.
- Effective registering of attendees primarily via the NHS Test and Trace QR code system
- Actively discouraging all spectators at adult games
- Consider minimising spectators at youth games to one adult per child wherever possible
- Provide local adult fixtures within your catchment area, as detailed in the statement above.
We know these additional government restrictions will cause further disruption to individuals in clubs and leagues. However, we remain able to play football to a significant extent albeit effectively under licence. We are reliant on each and every one of us complying fully with the current restrictions and we thank you all in advance of that compliance.
Step 3-6
The FA has requested clarity from the UK Government on travel into or out of areas with 'very high' local covid alert levels by clubs in steps 3-6 of the National League System and Tiers 3-6 of the Women's Football Pyramid for fixtures and will provide a further update as soon as possible.
Simon Gerrard
CEO - Lancashire FA
Colin Bridgford
CEO - Manchester FA
Mike Watson
CEO - Cheshire FA
Dave Pugh
CEO – Liverpool FA
Jo Ashworth
CEO - Westmorland
Ben Snowdon
CEO - Cumberland