Chaos ahead for football, says Rooks manager

The Lewes manager is delighted that the current ban on matches and training ends next Wednesday and can’t wait to get his squad back in action.

For the club’s women’s team, the return of fans to their matches has come closer with a government announcement that supporters will be allowed back in stadiums at elite level.

Langton’s worry is that with some parts of the country in tier two for lockdown restrictions and others in tier three, with Kent among areas put in tier three, there will be a lot more postponements to come.

The Isthmian premier - which Lewes are in - and Isthmian south east division both have plenty of Kent sides involved and there are fears those teams' activities could be restricted, including travel to and from Kent.

He said: “We’ll be back training next Thursday all being equal, and we’ve agreed to play friendlies away to Eastbourne Town on Saturday, December 5, and at Sevenoaks a week later.

“We’re due to play Little Common in the Sussex Senior Cup on Tuesday, December 15 – that will be our first competitive game back – and are scheduled to go to Folkestone on Saturday 19. But with the latest announcements about different areas in different tiers I can see chaos ahead. It’s hard to say how it will work out.

“What happens if a team in a tier two area is playing one from tier three? Will they be allowed to travel to tier three, or will teams be allowed to travel from three to two? There’s a lot of questions, still.”

Langton said Isthmian League bosses had done a good job since the initial lockdown in March in responding to national restrictions and trying to do what best served their member clubs. And he backed the league to continue doing its best to make arrangements. But he said the season could be very stop-start.

He expects his squad to have stayed fit during the shutdown. “I’ll know as soon as I see them get out of their cars on Thursday and within five minutes of training what sort of shape they’re in,” he said.

The Rooks have lost Leon Redwood to Whitehawk and Langton aims to replace him and perhaps make one or two other additions to his ranks soon, including a National South player on dual registration.

Defender Nic D’Arienzo and utility man Teddy Bloor are fit again after injury.