Yeovil Town‘s trip to Woking has been postponed as a mark of respect following the death of The Queen on Thursday.
However, a statement from the National League confirming the postponement of the full schedule of fixtures for the weekend suggests next Tuesday’s trip to Eastleigh will still go ahead.
It added that no sporting events would be permitted on the day of The Queen’s funeral which is presently expected to be Monday, September 19.
In a statement on Friday, the National League said: “Further to this morning’s statement by Debbie Hewitt, chair of The Football Association, all National League System, FA Trophy, and grassroots fixtures scheduled for this weekend will not take place as a mark of respect. The Queen was the FA’s patron, and Prince William is its President.
“At this moment National League fixtures will go ahead as planned from Monday 12 September onwards although we understand no sporting event of any kind will be permitted on the day of The Queen’s funeral.
“The decision to postpone this weekend’s fixtures is taken in line with guidance from the FA in consultation with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The League fully supports this stance.”
Earlier in the day the DCMS had said there was “no obligation to cancel or postpone events and sporting fixtures, or close entertainment venues during the National Mourning period.” However, soon after the Premier League and EFL both confirmed they were cancelling their weekend fixture schedules – with the National League following suit.
Yeovil Town Under-18s‘ fixture at Salisbury City has also been postponed with the South West Counties Youth League calling off its schedule, along with the opening weekend of the Junior Premier League where a number of age group teams represent the Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust.
There are no details about what happens to match tickets for those who bought them for the trip to Woking – but we would expect such information to appear in the fullness of time.
The last time we can recall the death of a member of the Royal Family leading to a cancellation was the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997 when we made a long trip to Halifax Town (before they were FC Halifax) on a Friday night to avoid the clash with the funeral on the Saturday.