The Island club will face a trip to either Billingshurst or FC Elmstead on Saturday 10 October – should non-league football return as planned in September – and Gary Freeman’s men will need to get through an epic eight rounds of knock-out matches in all to have a chance of making it to the final, which will be played at Wembley on 8 May 2021.
Like Bulls, both Billinghurst and Elmstead play in step 6 of the non-league pyramid, in Southern Combination League Division I and Southern Counties East League Division I respectively.
A large number of members of parliament have written to the UK government in open letters calling for the urgent return of fans to non-league football matches, highlighting the fact that many of these clubs’ attendances rarely exceed double figures, or in the lower hundreds at most. A petition to allow the return of spectators to football at all levels from step three and below was also started on Monday and has already received well over half of the 10,000 required for the government to respond.
Meanwhile, Jersey Bulls’ friendly with Risborough Rangers on 29 August has been postponed due to Government of Jersey guidance which states that no event can take place on that attracts non-resident visitors to the Island.
Bulls will now be using that date to play an ‘in-house’ friendly with their league campaign due to start just one week later on 5 September. As a consequence of the measures concerning sport and events in Jersey, the club have agreed with the Combined Counties Football League to play all their initial league fixtures away from home.
More in Wednesday’s JEP.
