Fylde RFC chairman planning for all scenarios but wants guidance from the top

That’s the view of chairman Dave Young, who says the sensible course of action is for the Woodlands Ground to remain in lockdown until the way forward becomes clearer.

The Rugby Football Union was quick to call a halt to the season in the National Leagues following the coronavirus outbreak, with promotion and relegation issues resolved by early April and the make-up of next season’s leagues finalised.

But it remains far from clear whether Fylde’s National Two North campaign will start as planned in September and the club will need answers before long.

Chairman Young told the Gazette: “It’s very difficult at present because there is no real guidance coming down.

“They are looking at elite rugby but nothing is filtering down about lower levels.

“There’s talk about the conditions which would enable elite games to be played but there’s no way we could comply with that. Playing behind closed doors just is not practical for us.

“The latest guidance allows you to open your facilities but we’ve no intention of doing that.

“I can’t see that opening up just for training is of any benefit to the individuals or to the club. We would have to comply with conditions regarding cleaning and hygiene.

“For now it is sensible for us to stay closed until we receive further guidance. We’re really just waiting and planning for different scenarios.”

At present, those possible scenarios are many and varied.

Young continued: “Do we try to start the season in September or wait until January? There has also been talk of playing a variant of the game with less contact but I’m not sure what appetite there would be for that.

“For now we just have to try to plan for all the ‘what ifs’, though we will face some key decisions about how we will manage going forward.”

Financially the club has benefited from an online appeal to members, though longer-term planning remains difficult.

“The appeal went very well and had a lot of support, though we will give it one more nudge,” added Young.

“It has helped and we are OK to get through the next few months, but we will need to be generating income again next season, in whatever form it takes.

“We are looking very carefully at commercial activities and at our business model to make sure it is sustainable.

“That’s a major task and difficult to carry out at present but we have to focus on the opportunities in front of us.”

One money-spinning opportunity could be to rearrange Fylde’s match against the Barbarians, which was scheduled for this month as a centrepiece of the club’s centenary celebrations.

“We definitely hope the Barbarians game happens,” said Young.

“They made the statement they would try to honour our game and the Oxford University fixture on the same tour but it’s a question of when it can happen.

“If league fixtures are curtailed next season there may be more opportunities to play it.”