Non-elite football will not continue during lockdown

Non-elite football will be suspended throughout lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed.

Some clubs had hoped games could continue under strict regulations, but action will temporarily halt from Thursday.

However, speaking in Parliament, it was confirmed this would not be the case as the country bids to get the R rate down.

“Any particular activity you can always find an arguable exemption for these measures, or for many of them,” the Prime Minister said.

“The difficulty is that to be consistent and to have a package that works you need to have a thorough series of measures.

“I bitterly regret we have to curtail for 28 days to curtail football clubs and sports events in the way that we are.

“I bitterly, bitterly regret it but it is necessary to keep the R down.”

Non-elite football includes all clubs from step 3 and below in the men’s game and below the top two tiers of the women’s pyramid.