Matt Scrafton's verdict: Thankless task for football's decision-makers who can't possibly please everyone

The entirety of the season has been wiped out effectively, as if it never happened.

There is no right or wrong way for football to deal with the situation we find ourselves in.

You can’t please everyone and whatever decision the authorities take there will be winners and losers , those that benefit and others that don’t. That’s life, unfortunately.

But we must sympathise with the likes of Jersey Bulls, who are (or should that be ‘were’) 20 points clear at the top of Combined Counties Football League Division One, having won all 27 games.

South Shields, meanwhile, are already considering taking legal action, having been well on their way to securing promotion from the Northern Premier League, which would have been a fourth success in five seasons.

With just nine games of the season remaining, the North East outfit sat 12 points clear at the top of the table.

These are just two examples – there will be others who miss out , seeing three-quarters of a season’s work go to waste in one fell swoop.

At the other end of the spectrum, there will be a host of clubs breathing a collective sigh of relief as they stave off the threat of relegation. Several clubs already been consigned to their fate have now survived.

It doesn’t particularly sit well with me that so much hard work by so many people is now considered effectively worthless. But what else do you do?

There’s no precedent for this, no occasion when this previously happened for the authorities to fall back on or refer to.

Work must now begin to ensure clubs at these levels, with no match-day revenue from ticket sales, bar takings and so on, aren’t wiped off the map completely.

This coming week should bring further clarity on what happens to the top rung of non-league, Step 1 and 2.

This will be of particular interest to Blackpool fans who will no doubt be itching to see Ian Evatt claim a first promotion of his career as a manager.

The 38-year-old has Barrow four points clear of Harrogate Town at the top of the National League, having led the way for the majority of the season.

More significantly, though, the Blackpool legend has Barrow on course for a return to the Football League after almost 50 years.

The Bluebirds were controversially dumped out of the old Fourth Division in 1972 after a failed bid for re-election.

For Barrow to have such a historical achievement snatched away from them this season through no fault of their own would be cruel in the extreme.

They might only have a four-point lead at this moment in time, but most at that level accept that Barrow have been the standout side this season by far.

Moving up the pyramid to the EFL and Premier League, the waiting game continues over when the season might resume, although there appears a general will to make sure it does at some point.

I don’t detect any sense of impatience yet over the lack of a return date and that’s quite right too – there’s no particular rush.

As it stands, there will be no return until April 30 at the earliest but we all know that will be pushed back, just as the initial comeback date of April 3 was.

In fact, we’re likely to hear more on that from the EFL this week.

I’d be very surprised if there’s any football played before June, and even then it’s inevitable fixtures will be staged behind closed doors.

That poses its own problems as all matches are supposed to have an ambulance and emergency staff on stand-by.

Given the current demand, can we really justify taking these staff away from the frontline?

The simple answer is no. Perhaps volunteers can fill the gap? But that presents its own challenges.

There will come a time when football matters again, but right now our priority is peoples’ health and supporting the NHS in any way we can as they look to cope with the pandemic.

Speaking of which, it’s been heartening to see so many clubs taking action to support their local hospitals, Blackpool included.

If the Blackpool FC Hotel can be made available for the NHS, that would be brilliant.

Stay safe, follow the guidance and look after yourselves.

Football can wait for another day.