September 12th – that’s the date that football fans have been waiting for! Gillingham boss Steve Evans believes it’s the date that he will be told this week that the new SKYBet League One season will begin.
In our regular update with the Gills boss, he told us “we’ve been busy but we’re at the beck and call of the EFL in terms of the start date for the new season. That said there’s been a lot of work going on behind the scenes, number crunching and the identification of players etc.”
“They (the EFL) have a board meeting on Friday (the 24th) and they’ll be making decisions, but at the moment I understand that we’re looking at September 12th for an actual start date for our first league game – with possibly the League Cup the week before – and whatever the format is after that I don’t know at the moment.”
“So, we’re looking for a confirmation of date so then quickly – hopefully – within four or five days of that be into a pre-season programme to get ready for the twelfth of September.”
“One thing that will probably result from the delayed start (the season was originally scheduled to begin in mid-August) is more midweek games and I love them and I think all players do, I think supporters do, I think the media do – it keeps everything alive and means that if you get a good result, you don’t get carried away as you’ve got to do it again on the Tuesday or Wednesday, and vice versa if you get a bad result, you can reverse that a few days later.”
“I love under the lights, I love certain stadium under the lights – Priestfield is one of them because the atmosphere is always terrific – and when you look at how strong League One is going to be next season from the three clubs of the five or six who could still come down from the Championship plus of course the giants that have been left behind from this season.”
“So, it’s going to be such a strong League next season that Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Wednesday doesn’t frighten me, in fact it’s the opposite – it excites me!”
There has been speculation that Cup football in the new season could also change as Evans explained. “There must now be a possibility that we have to play FA Cup ties to a finish on the day. If that’s the case, then I’m happy with that as well.”
“Over the years, I’ve had a number of replays and done reasonably well if not done very well in them, but I’ve always believed that as a football professional, when you play against the higher ranked teams who normally have for different reasons the better players, the better squads, the more of everything, then you’ve got one chance to beat these teams and normally it’s the first game.”
“So, I’d be quite happy to see them played to a finish and look forward to it. And if that’s the case, then I’ll embrace it!”
Evans also told of the frustration that all the not knowing when the new season will start has caused within football – he told us “I’m like every other manager who’s below the Championship, so frustrated about not being able to go to work.”
“I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been able to watch the odd game; I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been able to go and watch the odd training session albeit very much at a distance.”
“It’s all very frustrating and we all can’t wait to get back into work and doing what we all wake up for every morning which is to play football.”