By Alex Predelaux
Connah’s Quay boss Andy Morrison has slammed the Football Association of Wales for keeping Welsh clubs in limbo during the latest lockdown.
The 12 JD Cymru Premier teams have been met with a wall of silence from Welsh football’s governing body since all league fixtures were suspended for a second time on January 8.
The Welsh Premier League is the only top division in the United Kingdom not playing at the moment as teams in the English sixth tier continue under stringent Covid-19 protocols.
There were no changes to Wales’ coronavirus Alert Level 4 following the latest review by the Welsh Government this week, but the decision to suspend the Cymru Premier was taken by the FAW, even though Welsh government’s policy was that professional sport could continue.
Morrison’s high-flying Nomads saw their stunning run of seven consecutive victories grind to a halt with the postponement. He just wants to know when his side can get their title tilt back on track.
“We haven’t heard anything from the FAW. It won’t be coming back on February 6 and I can guarantee that,” he said.
“Every manager will be saying the same, the best case scenario is what we all want to know and then when we’re given a firm date, that cannot be brought forward.
“People can then prepare for that date and if it’s pushed back then so be it, but giving us a date we can all prepare for is what we want.
“The frustrating thing for me is that Conference North and South are playing across the border and that’s tier six in England. I find it so frustrating we can’t play knowing how hard people have worked to make sure we can play football.”
It has been five weeks since the JD Premier League clubs kicked a ball in anger after Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford put the nation into another strict lockdown.
The delay came at the worst possible time for the Nomads who were steamrolling their way to a title defence after seeing off leaders TNS 2-0.
But that momentum was stopped in its tracks by the interruption and Morrison says teams will now need even more time to get back up to speed.
“It’s all up in the air at the moment, but I can’t see us playing football in the near future,” he said.
“A lot of the clubs are part time and they haven’t been able to get together and train.
“We missed six weeks in the summer, but it’s heading that way now. Everybody needs to be able to prepare right to make it a level playing field.
“When the return date comes along every club needs to be able to give a good account of themselves. I would have thought they will need at least 10 to 15 days to prepare for a game.
“We just have to pick up where we left off. We have a group of very committed and professional players.
“We’ve seen this as an opportunity for some players to get fitter and sharper. We’ve used the time in the right way and I think it will be at least the middle of February until we get a start date.”