Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone who reads the blog or follows on twitter after another rollercoaster year for football clubs up and down the country.

From matches played behind closed doors, to no games at all, to the slow return to normality and back, potentially it seems, to more uncertainty in the weeks ahead.

That will clearly be the case in Wales, where strict new restrictions come into force on Boxing Day while clubs lower down the Scottish pyramid may benefit from the limits that have been imposed on those higher up.

In England, in the absence of information to the contrary, plans are being put in place for fixtures over the festive season and two clubs close to me here in Sheffield are good examples of how football and the local community can be linked.

Stocksbridge Park Steels host Sheffield FC on the 27th and are also collecting for local Food Banks while Dronfield Town are throwing open the doors of the H E Barnes Stadium the following day for the visit of Parkgate.

There are also a number of clubs offering reduced price admission to those supporters of EFL clubs left without a game on Boxing Day due to Covid issues or because their team are away, both in the case of Tavistock AFC where Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle season ticket holders can pay just a fiver on Boxing Day.