Scottish pyramid football clubs warned over Covid breaches

The Pyramid Restart group – which is overseeing arrangements for the return of the Lowland League and the South, East and new West of Scotland Leagues which will feed into it - has urged all clubs they must adhere to health protocols and not do anything which would threaten to delay that return.

In a statement, retweeted by the East of Scotland League, the group says every club has a responsibility to comply and to stop jumping the gun by publishing details of proposed friendlies.

The Borders has three teams each in the Lowland and East of Scotland Leagues – Gala Fairydean Rovers, Vale of Leithen and Berwick Rangers in the former, plus Peebles Rovers, Hawick Royal Albert United and Eyemouth United in the latter.

The statement said: “”We need every single club to understand the reality of the situation. Unless we can demonstrate that clubs are respecting current protocols, and will do so going forward, we run the very real risk of having any restart delayed, perhaps significantly.

“There is evidence that compliance with current protocols is not universal. This must stop, or we can forget any further relaxations.

“The proposed indicative dates for contact training/friendlies/fixtures are completely dependent on every club following the rules.

“Would all clubs please stop advertising for and publishing dates for friendlies on social media, etc? By all means plan ahead – but don’t give the impression all you have to do is bide your time and these games can go ahead.”