East of Scotland clubs vote to null-and-void season

East of Scotland League clubs have opted to null-and-void the 2020/21 campaign following a vote.

East of Scotland league clubs have voted to null and void the season

Teams in Scottish football’s sixth tier were asked ahead of the planned resumption of outdoor contact sport to choose their preference from two choices: restarting the league, or declaring the season null and void.

Football is one of the sports cleared to resume from May 17 as part of the Scottish Government’s route out of lockdown as things stand, although there were calls to bring that forward by nearly a month.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is due to confirm on April 20 which activities will be permitted from April 26 but with concerns over the timeframe available for teams to complete 50 per cent of fixtures, the East of Scotland Football League Board recommended nulling-and-voiding the season.

Some teams had managed to complete 13 fixtures while others had managed just seven and with 17 matches the halfway point, there was understandable concern over all clubs’ ability to complete half of their scheduled games.

League chiefs last week requested permission to resume activities in accordance with updated guidance permitting outdoor professional sport and those involved to travel across local authority boundaries for the purposes of training or competing.

But the Scottish FA indicated that Holyrood was signing off which levels of football were cleared to resume and the East of Scotland was not included.

Clubs were instructed to cast their vote by 4pm on Sunday April 11 with a final result of 73 per cent to 27 per cent backing the null-and-void option.

Teams are now expected to begin planning for the 2021/22 season, scheduled to begin on July 17 2021.

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