COLIN BOAG

I’ve believed for a long time that a schism between the professional game and the lower echelons is inevitable, and the combination of the pandemic and health worries is accelerating the change.
Covid restrictions gave amateur players reasons to look elsewhere for leisure time activities, and the stories are legion of clubs that used to field half a dozen teams now being down to just one or two – it’s going to be a long and difficult road to get those numbers back up again.
At the same time, the concussion issue, and increasing physicality and the risk ...