TADCASTER Albion and Pickering Town are set for a wait of at least two weeks before any decision is made on their season.

The Pitching In Northern Premier League north/west campaign has been suspended until at least March 6 amid the introduction of a third national lockdown, which only allows ‘Elite sport’ to continue.

The NPL board have recommended that a null and void decision is made for the second successive season but have surveyed clubs for their opinions before a final decision is made by the FA Alliance Committee and then the FA Council.

“We are very much in limbo, at the moment,” NPL chairman Mark Harris told The NPL Show.

“The deadline to responding to the survey was yesterday,” he said, when speaking on Sunday, “and it will now take a week or so to chase up any stragglers.

“It’ll then take another week on top of that to really understand and analyse the findings. The FA Alliance Committee will then get together with our fellow Trident leagues.”

Harris went on to outline the challenges in moving forward, whatever option is decided upon, given the uncertainty created by the pandemic and finding a resolution that all can agree upon.

“A number of options have been put forward,” he said. “Those options included reviving last season’s results.

“I’m not a lawyer and it will be a matter for the FA’s legal department, as to when you’ve expunged a season’s results, whether they can be effectively revived again.

“Another options that has been put forward is another competition.. whether that’s on a geographical or cup competition basis.

“But, there’s a reality that says, when restrictions are lifted and you’re allowed to go on holiday, there will be a pile of players, volunteers, who quite rightly want to go away for a break.

“Also, the first qualifying rounds for the FA Cup are set in stone, because broadcasters pay a large amount of money for the rights to the FA Cup and that’s non-negotiable.

“So there’s a limited amount of movement there. Every option has their challenges.”