Boston Town boss Gary Edgley welcomes news that non-league football won't kick off without fans in grounds

Poachers back in training in small groups
Town manager Gary Edgley.Town manager Gary Edgley.
Town manager Gary Edgley.

Boston Town boss Gary Edgley has welcomed the news that non-league football will not be returning without fans in grounds.

The Football Association made that clear during recent discussions from clubs in steps 5 and 6 of the National League pyramid.

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Money spent on the turnstiles and at the snack bars by supporters is a vital income to clubs outside of the professional game.

Costs such as rent, utility bills and paying match officials means that non-league sides such as the Poachers would struggle to host matches without any revenue on match days.

“We can’t play as a club if we don’t have fans at the game,” said Edgley, who has been delighted with the hard work on and off the pitch since last season ended.

“We get 80-100 people to our games, and we need that to fund the club. We can’t work as a club without that.”

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Members of Town’s squad have resumed training to maintain fitness, following Government guidelines and maintaining social distancing.

“We’ve got little groups training at the moment which is fours and fives,” Edgley added.

“It’s just literally getting players back out, doing little bits.

“It’s not pre-season, we can’t work with them as a group at the moment until rules change again.”

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However, Edgley hopes that will all change soon as late September, early October remains the FA’s favoured time for next season to begin.

“Personally, I don’t think it’s a million miles away,” he added.

“A lot depends on whether there’s a second spike. If it doesn’t look like it’ll happen then it could be September time.

“But there will be a lot of guidelines that surround it all.”

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Edgley previously told The Standard that he has held talks with targets he is hoping to bring to the club. However, he remains adamant that the playing squad already has firm foundations in place.

The Poachers were sitting 11th in the United Counties League Premier Division when the campaign was declared null and void, Edgley’s side hoping to secure a top-10 finish for the club for the first time 2012-13.

The manager believes that his current crop, with a few additions, can do just that.

“We’ve spoken to the lads we want to speak to,” he said. “The lads we’ve spoken to are interested but it’s just that stage at the moment.

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“The main thing for me is that we have the group of players we had last season. We had a good team and the main thing for me was, if we kept that group together, a young set of players, then we can build.”