NORFOLK FA & ANGLIAN COMBINATION ANNOUNCE RETURN TO #NORFOLKFOOTBALL

Yesterday we announced the confirmation of a return to football competition starting on Saturday 3 April, in conjunction with the Anglian Combination League and Offside Trust.

Norfolk based teams in the Anglian Combination League were asked if they would like to enter an end of season cup competition and an impressive 68 teams registered their interest, allowing for three competitions to be formed. Furthermore the competitions will be run in conjunction with Norfolk FA’s Official Community Partner, The Offside Trust, an organisation dedicated to supporting survivors of sexual abuse.

Due to the number of entries, there has been three separate competitions confirmed in what promises to be a celebration of the return of Norfolk Football:

• The Offside Trust Return to #NorfolkFootball Premier Cup
• The Offside Trust Return to #NorfolkFootball Intermediate Cup
• The Offside Trust Return to #NorfolkFootball Minor Cup

The structure of the competitions sees each cup split into groups based on location, with teams playing each other once in a mixture of home and away games. Each cup will consist of a group stage, followed by knock-out rounds with the finals scheduled to be played in early June. Further details can be found in the PDF document below.

Football Services Manager, Matt Carpenter said: “This has been an extremely challenging season for everyone involved in local football, so it is fantastic that we will hopefully be able to finish the campaign with competitive matches for players, managers, coaches, match officials, volunteers and spectators to enjoy. And the fact that it also provides us with an opportunity to help promote the amazing work that The Offside Trust are doing is an added bonus.

“No doubt there will still be plenty of challenges ahead but with the co-operation of everyone involved we have lots of exciting football to look forward to.”

Secretary of the Anglian Combination League, Chris McCullough added: "The Anglian Combination are pleased to work with Norfolk FA, to provide a restart to football for clubs in these difficult times."

We stress that this exciting news comes with the caveat that it is dependent upon receiving favourable updated guidance from the Department of Culture Media and Sport and The FA regarding the return of grassroots football from 29th March.