Baffins Milton Rovers boss Wilkinson: Why we should start the 2021/22 non-league season in June

Baffins Milton Rovers boss Shaun Wilkinson would like to see the start of next season brought forward.
Baffins boss Shaun Wilkinson. Picture: Chris MoorhouseBaffins boss Shaun Wilkinson. Picture: Chris Moorhouse
Baffins boss Shaun Wilkinson. Picture: Chris Moorhouse

And he believes it's a move that could bring a number of benefits for clubs at steps 3-6 level across the country.

Players and supporters are facing an even longer period without competitive action after the decision to curtail the current non-elite season.

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Should any supplementary tournaments not be introduced, clubs are facing going more than six months without hosting meaningful action with the 2021-22 season not scheduled to begin until August.

But Wilkinson reckons raising the curtain on a new campaign in June would provide players, clubs and supporters with a much-needed boost.

The former Hawks and Weymouth midfielder, who took charge of just 13 Wessex Premier matches in a shortened first season as a manager, would only see the positives.

Wilkinson said: 'They should start the season earlier.

'Start it in June, start it a good couple of months earlier, you only need six weeks to prep and a squad to get them fit and get some games in.

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'By the time Christmas comes everyone will have played a large portion of games.

'You can start your six weeks (pre-season) from the end of April and then you’re ready to go bang for the start of June. Just give yourself a four or five-week programme, everyone have a programme, as long as you get at least five friendly games in that’s more than enough to start the seasons off.

‘Hopefully, if it does start earlier we’ll be ready to go.

‘You’ll have better pitches, fresher players, more fans in the ground - it’s a no-brainer for me.'

Wilkinson accepted that curtailing the 2020/21 season was the only 'sensible outcome'.

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The FA are set to 'revisit discussions around a potential restructure at Steps 4-6 of the NLS, which was previously agreed and has been on hold since the 2019-20 season' following the decision, though.

Wilkinson insisted rewarding teams for their success over the past two seasons remains an important step.

‘It (the curtailment) was the only sensible outcome, really', he added.

'They need to find a way of restructuring to reward the teams that have been up there for two seasons.

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‘They’ve got to be sensible and look at it over the past two seasons and see who were there or thereabouts.

‘They can’t just send one team up who’s had a good first 10 games this season, it’s got to be over two years.

‘They’ve got to accumulate it over the two years and put the ones up that deserve to be up.

‘It’s no-one’s fault this has happened, it’s a worldwide pandemic - football is the bottom of the list unfortunately.

‘Hopefully, everyone comes back safely, everyone has their vaccines, and come back next season.'