Grassroots Jewish football to return after Passover

Jewish sport is set to return to action after Passover, with the Football season concluding at the end of June.

After lockdown restrictions were eased on Monday 29 March, allowing outdoor organised sport, Maccabi GB has laid out its plans for the resumption of grassroots football.

David Wolff, Chairman of MGBSFL (Maccabi Great Britain Southern Football League), said the first batch of games will begin after April 11, with no spectators until after 12 April.

He said spectators will then be allowed “under strict social distancing rules. There will also be a mix of double headers and midweek games” in order to conclude the season before 30 June. The Cyril Anekstein Cup, he said, will only be played on mid-week dates.

“Let us hope that the games are played in the right spirit”, he added, warning that “there are strict guidelines from the FA as to how Covid regulations are enforced and we rely on the teams to do this.”
Teams can be reported to the County Football Associations for any breach and they can be disciplined by their County Football Association.”

He said there are currently 29 teams spanning three divisions and each team registers around 20 players, with 798 people currently signed up.

Wolf added that with a full programme, and each team having maximum of five substitutes, there could be up to 450 players involved each week, with every fixture also having a qualified referee.