Lordswood: We reiterate that we will always have the safety of our players, management, committee and supporters at the forefront of our minds and will not look to rush anyone back to football whilst the rates of infection continue to be high

Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division club Lordswood have issued the following statement:

“As many of you will be aware we haven't played a game since Saturday 31 October, following on from the beginning of a second national lockdown implemented on the 5 November.

This was reviewed and Kent was placed in a Tier Three restricted lockdown at the end of November, at which point it was permissible for football to recommence (both training and matches).

Lordswood Football Club had unanimously agreed that with areas of Kent being the worst areas in the whole country for rates of Covid-19 per 100,000 population that we would not be rushing our players back for group training or friendly matches.

Sometimes you need to look at the bigger picture of the current situation, and regardless of how much we would like to see football return and the associated health benefits it brings both physically and socially, we have a duty of care towards our players, management team, committee and our supporters.

Kent was placed in Tier Three after exiting the second National Lockdown and over a period of three weeks, the numbers did not improve - in fact they worsened countywide and also in London.

As a club we had made it abundantly clear that we would not be prepared to play any fixtures arranged over the Christmas and New Year period, and that decision has been vindicated following the latest implementation of Tier Four for large areas of the South East, London and East of England. Tier Four prohibits football and training and these current restrictions are due to be reviewed by the Government on 30 January.

We are pleased that the Southern Counties East Football League had agreed to delay a restart until 16 January (at the earliest) prior to the latest Government update which placed us into Tier Four. We will carefully consider future communications regarding a restart as and when we receive them.

We reiterate that we will always have the safety of our players, management, committee and supporters at the forefront of our minds and will not look to rush anyone back to football whilst the rates of infection continue to be as high as they currently are.

As a result of the restrictions imposed we have regretfully made the decision to push back the draw date for our "Name the Stand" Raffle to Saturday 6 March 2021. We have not been able to push ticket sales as much as we would have liked. The prizes will not be affected with the winner being able to name the stand up until the end of the 2021-22 season. Anyone who has purchased tickets that is not happy with the change to the draw date can request a refund of their tickets by emailing lordswoodfc@live.co.uk

We appreciate that the current climate has the ability to affect our mental health as well as our physical health and so we would like to let our local community know that we are here for you. Whether it's a phone call for a chat or a trip to the shops for supplies, we will be happy to help in any way we can. Please drop us a message on our social media pages or via email lordswoodfc@live.co.uk and we will do our best to help.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your support during the troubled times of 2020. From all of us at Lordswood FC we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hopefully better times ahead in 2021.

Be Kind. Stay Safe.”

Visit Lordswood’s website: www.lordswoodfc.club