THE WITTON COLUMN - By Paul Harper

WITH the Premier League and Championship starting up again this week, it feels like football might slowly be getting back to some sort of normality once again.

Of course, these are the first steps, and the games will be played behind closed doors which by no means is normal, but hopefully it is the first steps to getting the other divisions, Northern Premier League included, back up and running again in the not too distant future.

With ‘lockdown’ restrictions gradually being eased by the government, we’ve noticed some local sides have returned to some sort of training again.

While Albion are not at that stage yet, it will be interesting to see how and when the NPL will aim to start the new season and we can get back to the football.

It seems a lifetime ago that we came away from Lancaster City with a point, our last outing on a football pitch which was some three months ago now. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can get back out on the pitch again.

With no football income and no social club takings for that three-month period, kind donations from supporters continue to help the club as we move forward.

Our online page on Justgiving is still accepting donations, check out the club’s social media pages and website for more information, while we have also received a number of cheques to the club offices.

The generosity of the Wittoners has been fantastic, and is massively appreciated by everyone at the club. The family spirit remains strong at Wincham Park and everyone is helping the club continue moving in the right direction.

From the media side of things, despite there being no football to report on or any transfer activity in the past couple of weeks, it has been as busy as ever and we promote our latest initiatives to bring the supporters closer than ever to the goings on at the club.

I have been busy coordinating sign ups and putting content together for the club’s new e-newsletter which will be launching this coming weekend, while we have also been editing and publishing a host of excellent archive Witton Albion videos on our YouTube channel.

On top of that, we have been getting involved with a bit of esports via Pro Evolution Soccer, importing the Witton squad into the game, and it’s been a successful venture so far as we’re unbeaten! Hopefully, we can take that form into the real season when we get started up again! No pressure, lads!

We hope everyone is staying safe and well. Take care.