Yesterday afternoon the Joint Response Group of the SFA/SPFL issued a statement delaying any form of training for adult football, over the age of 18, until at least August 24th and as a consequence we have suspended training for the first team.
To be clear, we have adhered to the guidelines and protocols from day one and have progressed from one to one sessions through to 3 in a group, moving on to larger groups with the expectation that these would increase in size before full contact training was to begin on the 24th August.
At a time when finances are, to say the least, stretched for most clubs, we have invested in testing and sanitising equipment and conducted risk assessments at each stage and I commend the coaching staff and players for the way they have dealt with the changes and protocols.
Whilst we recognise the situation we are in regarding the Covid-19 crisis and the difficult decisions those in authority have to make , we are deeply disappointed at the decision of the JRG and its impact on clubs outside of the Scottish Premiership.
Any further extension to the suspension of adult football will make things even harder for clubs to continue, we have been lucky so far with a number of our sponsors maintaining their support of the club but attracting new sponsors is difficult with plenty of companies suffering their own difficulties and understandably, sponsorship of a football club doesn’t come high on their list of priorities.
We will continue to abide by the guidelines set down by the JRG and Scottish Government and look forward to getting the green light to begin training again next week.
Mark Johnson
General Manager, Carnoustie Panmure FC
Friday August 14th 2020
