Grassroots football and rugby face a delay to the start of their new seasons due to the unsafe pitch conditions caused by the summer’s prolonged dry weather and lack of rain.
Rugby union’s governing body, the RFU, has already announced a delay to the start of the new community season, citing unsafe conditions for full contact rugby, with the new season to begin on Saturday, 26 September at the earliest.
This includes any side playing in Regional Division One and below, as well as any Women’s rugby below Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR).
Bedford Blues Women’s opening Championship Two fixture against Sudbury on Sunday, 20 September has been provisionally postponed as part of the decision, with Men’s sides such as Bedford Athletic confirming that their season has also been affected.
Bedford Blues Men’s Champ Rugby season will not be disrupted by the regulations.
“After careful consideration and extensive consultation with clubs across England, we have decided to delay the start of the competitive community game season until the week commencing Monday, 21 September”, read an RFU statement.
“We appreciate this will be disappointing news to clubs, players and volunteers who have been getting ready for and looking forward to the new season”.
Bedfordshire Merit League sides, such as last season’s winners, Sharnbrook and Colworth are managed by constituent bodies (CBs) but are following the same guidance, meaning their season has also been delayed.
The RFU are allowing friendly matches and training to continue, but says, “it is important pitch safety is assessed before every session and RFU guidance is followed on modifying contact activity on hard grounds.”
Bedford Ath did press ahead with a pre-season game on Saturday (22 August), beating Shelford 46-33 although their ground on Wentworth Drive has a 3G surface.
The full RFU guidelines on the start of the new season can be found here.
What about the football season?
Despite a smattering of rain in recent days, the grassroots football season is also facing challenges, with the Football Association issuing guidance saying clubs “should focus on balancing player safety, pitch protection and continued football activity.”
There has however been no specific instruction to delay the start of any league seasons.
Bedfordshire FA has been approached for comment.
However, according to the Chiltern Youth League, which covers youth football from Under-11 to Under-18 age groups in Bedfordshire, some football pitches in the south of the county have been declared unfit, causing some issues.
“We have not made a blanket decision to postpone the start of the season”, says Jonathan Brown, secretary of the Chiltern Youth League.
“We are aware of issues with certain facility providers across the footprint of the League. As a result, there will be a lack of pitches available in Luton, Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard and selected other areas.
“However, some clubs have indicated that they believe their pitches will be available. Therefore, we will publishing a fixture list, tweaked to exclude locations that we know cannot be used.”
The Chiltern Youth League sent a provisional fixture list to all its member clubs on Tuesday (18 August).
The latest sporting guidance comes after Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service say they have faced “significant operational strain” due to the hot, dry weather, facing more than 180 outdoor fires across the county since the start of August.
Read: Bedfordshire firefighters tackle over 180 outdoor fires since Government alert
Latest reports say 71.3% of England is in drought while the country recorded its driest July since records began in 1836.
And grassroots sporting committees, all of which are voluntary enterprises, will be hoping sustained rain comes sooner rather than later although some long-range forecasts are predicting yet another heatwave in September.
“Councils have advised that they are looking to have pitches available towards the end of September and start of October, but this is dependant on the change in the weather”, added Jonathan.
“As a League, we are communicating proactively with our clubs, but are entirely dependant on pitch providers to advise when their pitches are safe for use.”
Bedford Borough Council and the Bedford and District Sunday Football League have also been contacted for comment, but did not respond in time for publication.
