Staveley boss welcomes the return of fans and NCEL games

The Trojans will re-start their campaign against Albion Sports in front of a maximum of 150 supporters.

“It is positive,” he said. “It came as a shock after we had been told that the league was suspended until January.

“It is positive because we want to be playing football. We just want to play football so we will see what happens.”

Staveley will now go about playing catch-up on their rivals having played just four games this season.

But Marshall is confident the club’s new 3G pitch will allow them to do just that.

“We hope to get some momentum going now,” he said. “We have played four games and the average is 7 or 8, so we are only three or four games behind.

“Unless we get snow we will be able to play on our new pitch.

“The pitch looks just the same once it’s brushed no matter how many games are played on it.

“It will be a big advantage for us. It can rain as much as it wants but the game will be on.

“Before we could quickly lose two or three games in a week with bad weather, we will not do that now.

“It's just a case of seeing what the league will do with the additional fixtures and when they will be slotted into midweek.

“We also need to know the finishing date. It is the middle of May now, but you can have a bad January and February and, unlike us, a lot of sides won't get games in home or away.”

It will be the first time the first team will have played a competitive game on the new pitch.

The new pitch is up to FIFA Quality Pro standard and will see Staveley’s 24 teams from U6 up to senior level train and play on the surface.

The NCEL side were awarded grants from the Premier League, The FA and the Football Foundation, to install the new state-of-the-art floodlit pitch as well as new pitch-side fencing, drainage and car facilities.