The Southern Counties East League have delayed their season restart to mid-January.

The league was paused ahead of the second national lockdown at the start of November and they had hoped to return to action on Boxing Day.

But high Covid-19 case rates across their geographical area has put those plans on hold.

“All league matches scheduled for the period December 26 to January 6 are postponed,” said the statement.

“At a time when households can mix over the festive period, we felt it was not wise to encourage further mixing by having players and spectators at matches during a time when the risk of infection spreading is increased even more than usual.

“It was agreed that the Southern Counties East League will recommence on Saturday, January 16. This will be reviewed on Monday, January 4 by the board of directors but we are hopeful that games can restart from this date.

“The league is aiming to end the season on May 15 for Premier Division clubs and May 8 for Division 1 clubs. This will be reviewed as the season progresses, dependent on further lockdowns and extreme bad weather.”

The league also stated they are hopeful of finishing the season – and have encouraged all other leagues to do everything they possibly can to ensure a safe conclusion to matches.

The statement added: “Our previous decision to suspend matches was based solely on the safety of the league’s players and officials, match officials, volunteers and spectators. This criteria continued to be at the forefront of our minds throughout the discussions we had, and will be our priority going forward.

“That said, we are determined to complete the 2020/21 season and will do everything we can, as safely as we can, to ensure this is the case. We know that is the wish of our teams and we are sure it is the wish of other leagues around the country in the non-league pyramid system.

“Since our previous decision, Covid-19 case numbers in Kent and the South East have continued to rise and all but one of our teams are now placed in Tier 3.”

The league also revealed that face coverings will be mandatory for both spectators and those in the technical areas when they do get under way again.

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