CITY of Liverpool FC have released a statement regarding the termination of the 2019-20 football season at non-league level. 

The announcement covers a wide range of topics including the nature of the situation football, and, most saliently, the country as a whole, now finds itself in.

The club offered support to teams in the region most affected by the expunging of results from the most recent campaign. Those sides included Lower Breck, Vauxhall Motors and 1874 Northwich, who were all set for promotion at the time of abandonment.

In a sporting sense, City of Liverpool were not especially affected by the decision, having found themselves in the bottom half of the Northern Premier League Division One North-West, but they had previously made a decision of their own which could have threatened their league status.

On March 14, before the cancellation of fixtures across the board, the club made a stand in order to protect supporters, volunteers, players and staff. 

Had this stance been seen as the club refusing to fulfil a fixture, it could have resulted in a penalty in the form of fines or a points deduction.

“Our position was, come what may, we were not playing,” City of ‘Liverpool FC’s deputy chairman Peter Furmedge told the Morning Star last month.

“We were fully aware that refusal to fulfil a fixture carries a loss of points and a heavy fine.

“We could have potentially dropped into a relegation place and been issued with fines we couldn’t afford, but we felt it was more important to make a stand than worry about the financial implications.”

As it transpired, the season was postponed, and eventually abandoned altogether, but many other games did go ahead on March 14.

The club were clear even back then that they would put the safety of everyone involved before financial or sporting considerations. 

City of Liverpool FC have reiterated that stance in a new statement from the board of directors, which also pointed out the reckless approach taken by the government.

“We believe that, up to the suspension of fixtures after March 14, football had been unnecessarily cavalier with public-health concerns for at least a week,” read the statement.

“The blame for this lies fairly and squarely with the government and the disastrously laissez-faire policy of herd immunity.

“In the continued absence of a testing, tracing and isolating regime, City of Liverpool FC remains unconvinced that herd immunity has been fully replaced as a government strategy. 

“As such, we remain resolute that our supporters, volunteers, players and staff will not be part of any ‘herd’ should that potentially catastrophic, ideologically driven policy of ‘taking it on the chin’ rear its head again.”

City of Liverpool is not aligned with either of the two Premier League clubs in the city and is all about creating its own culture and history away from any Red or Blue partisanship, but the statement did use the words of one Merseyside resident, Liverpool FC manager Jurgen Klopp, to reinforce the club’s main concern at this moment in time.

“As Jurgen Klopp has famously stated: ‘Football is the most important of the least important things’,” continued the statement.

“The country is in the grip of a crisis unparalleled outside of wartime. While football often offers a welcome escape from life’s troubles, we cannot allow football to blind us to the gravity of the situation we are in. 

“Many people, including a number of our volunteers and players, have been infected by this virus. 

“Many of us have friends or family working in front-line occupations, risking their health and the health of their loved ones as a direct consequence of PPE provision that would be unacceptable health-and-safety practice in a routine production line environment, let alone in hospitals facing a killer pandemic.”

As a supporter-owned club operating as a community benefit society, City of Liverpool FC remains as active during a time when no football is taking place as it would be during a packed fixture schedule.

The socialistically philanthropic initiatives and activities which take place throughout the season are just as important at times like this, perhaps even more so. 

As well as their own initiatives, the club are now woven into a fabric created by other similar organisations throughout the city, and indeed the country. The importance of this arm of the club is reflected in the statement:

“As things stand, City of Liverpool FC remains more a community organisation than a football club. 

“We have mobilised our COLFC Community volunteers as part of the Liverpool City Region social and solidarity economy. 

“Parcels of food and household items are being delivered to vulnerable and isolated people on a weekly basis by our volunteers. 

“Our Club Welfare Officer is using social media to provide links to sources of guidance and support, including resources for those who may feel that the current situation is affecting their mental health.

“Our PurpsTV YouTube channel is being used as a platform for online fitness sessions, accessible to all ability levels, delivered by Juanita Steel Fitcamp. 

“We ask that everybody involved with the club, in whatever capacity, does whatever they can to make sure our vulnerable neighbours are safe and well.”