The easing of lockdown restrictions that allows six people to mix along with the return of grassroots football could not have come at a better time for Binfield FC.
It gives them at least four training sessions to prepare for their Buildbase FA Vase third-round tie at Deal Town next Saturday, April 6.
“It’s great, we can’t wait to get going again,” voiced joint managers Jamie McClurg and Carl Withers.
“We have a nice game to look forward to in the Vase as it looked we would not be playing any football until August of next year, so at last we have something to focus on and have some normality back in our lives.”
The Moles, whose last game was their FA Vase penalty shoot-out win at Newhaven on December 5, have been organising one-on-one coaching sessions, but as Withers says: “They are not really ideal when you are preparing for a competitive game, but at least they have helped.
“The lads have not kicked a ball for three months and so there is always going to be some rustiness. With the sessions we have had so far we have been trying to get rid of the cobwebs and get them towards the fitness levels they need to be.
“With 16 or 17 players in the group it has not been easy and makes for a late night at times, but from this week we are now able to hold sessions involving groups of six and so able to start holding more of a normal training session.
“We are now able to go into groups and that is a big help, but we are still coming to terms with what we can or cannot do in grassroots football, and that is not really ideal when you have a big game coming up.”
Midfield general McClurg added: “Our main concern is the safety of all our players and their families. Many of us have older relatives and young children, so we have to be very careful about making contact.
“We are following the rules and the guidelines, we are very clear on that. We have got to respect what the Government and FA are saying.”
The tie at Deal will be played behind closed doors, but the Kent club are aiming to live stream the game on their Facebook page.
