Wessex League season won’t begin without spectators present … MPs bid to put pressure on government to relax restrictions

The same applies to all step 5 and step 6 leagues nationwide.

The Wessex season is due to start on Saturday, September 5, and fixture lists have already been published.

In contrast, FA competitions like the FA Cup - which starts on Tuesday, September 1 - and the FA Vase CAN take place behind closed doors.

In the Wessex Premier, AFC Portchester are due to host Fleet on September 5, with Baffins Milton travelling to Alresford, Fareham to Blackfield & Langley and Horndean hosting Bournemouth.

Wessex Division 1 club US Portsmouth are due to start their league season in Wiltshire at Laverstock & Ford.

US boss Glenn Turnbull said he would prefer fans to be present, but would be happy to play league games for a while without them.

‘When we played Baffins last weekend (in a friendly) it cost around the same as if we were playing a league game,’ he said.

‘The only difference was, in terms of paying the match officials, Shaun (Wilkinson, Baffins boss) gave me half the money.

‘It still cost us £60 to play Baffins and £60 to play Horndean in midweek.

‘If we’re still having to pay out for friendlies, we might as well pay out for league games (with no fans present).

‘I would prefer fans in the grounds, but part of me just wants to get on with it now.

‘People need football for their mental health - they need to be training, they need to be playing games, they need all that for their sanity.

‘If I had a Portchester hat on, I would see it differently. They get an awful lot more revenue through the gate and other areas than we do. I do understand other clubs will see it differently.

‘Clubs at our level aren’t like Manchester United, we don’t need fans in to create an atmosphere.

‘We want fans in to pay £6 at the turnstile, £1 for a programme and a tenner over the bar for a couple of pints and a burger.

‘It is frustrating – whether you get 50 at HMS Temeraire, 150 at Moneyfields or 1,500 at Havant.

‘But I’ve been brought up managing in reserve team football – I’ve taken a team to Dorchester on a cold Wednesday night in December and there’s been no fans there.’

Bar revenue is a major source of income for grassroots football clubs.

‘We’re going to Westfield (in Hereford) for a friendly this Saturday, they’ve got a BBQ after the game and a table selling alcohol,’ said Turnbull.

‘They’re doing that because they know we’re up there for the weekend with pocketfuls of cash and if they can make money by selling cans of beer they will do.’

The Hampshire Premier League told The News they are still planning to start their season on Tuesday, September 1 - even if the government have not lifted restrictions on spectators attending.

The second tier of the HPL, at step 8 of the non league pyramid, is not covered by the guidelines so fans are allowed in.

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Over 30 MPs have signed a letter to sports minister Nigel Huddleston calling for spectators to be allowed into grounds in an attempt to pump much-needed funds back into lower-level football.

Dame Cheryl Gillan and former sports minister Tracey Couch authored the letter which highlighted the difference between opening gates for fans of non-league clubs as opposed to those in the Premier League and EFL.

‘We are writing to request the Government allow for the urgent return of fans to non-league football clubs, which are at the heart of our constituencies and for whose future we fear,’ it read.

‘Our non-league football structure across England is football at its purest, often at the heart of our community, rich in diversity and a starting point for many a talented footballer but unlike league football cannot rely on broadcast or sponsorship income streams.”

The letter goes on to say crowds are ‘in the hundreds rather than thousands’ and – suggesting that makes treating non-league clubs the same as their League counterparts ‘incomparable and ultimately unfair’.

It also points out that indoor activities have recently been allowed to resume as long as Covid-19 safety measures are put in place and adhered to, so allowing ‘small but loyal’ fan numbers back into non-league stadia is a must – with a request to look at the situation at non-league and league levels as two separate issues.

Among the MPs to have signed the letter are Steve Brine (Winchester), Caroline Noakes (Southampton North and Romsey) and Royston Smith (Southampton Itchen).