Opinion: Jonny Drury on why the decision to curtail the domestic game in Wales was the correct one

Not one person involved in football at the moment wants seasons to be curtailed and ended.

In an ideal world they wouldn’t be, players would be back on the pitch and fans back on the terraces.

We’ve heard the term ‘exceptional circumstances’ more in the last two months than in most of our lifetimes.

But these are exceptional circumstances, where exceptional decisions need to be made.

Having covered the Cymru Premier, I have been one of many people who have been critical of the FAW and its handling of certain domestic-related incidents.

Every governing body will get stick and criticism, its par for the course. But on this particular issue, the call to end the Cymru Premier and finish it on a points per game basis is absolutely the right call.

Many will have seen the minority of people criticise it on social media, and that is to be expected. I get their point, we all want football to be completed, but those comments come from a minority.

You can’t make a decision that benefits few and not the many, to coin a political phrase.

Health reasons are obviously the big glaring reason why the season has finished, even though with German football restarting things seem to be on the up.

The second huge reason why I back the FAW in their call to end the campaign is the financial aspect.

When clubs in League One of the Football League are fearing they could go under if they are forced to play their remaining games behind closed doors, what argument is there for the Cymru Premier pressing ahead?

Again, a tiny section of the league could get away with finishing the season behind closed doors.

But the majority, who rely on gate receipts, even though some don’t get huge gates, would struggle massively to get to the end of the season.

If clubs are still paying a full wage bill, a full staff bill and officials fees, they need those gate receipts and bar takings to keep the club going.

Without that financial revenue, I wouldn’t be surprised if some clubs would have been in serious financial difficulty if the season would have finished.

Probably some clubs from the Cymru North and South would have been in the same predicament.

For this reason it surprised me to hear a handful of clubs were seeking legal advice about the decision.

I can only assume this is down to having the carrot of Europe snatched away from them.

I can sympathise with that, I’ve seen first hand what European money can do to a club financially.

But for me there would have been an even bigger financial risk to get to the end of the campaign.

No one will probably see anything like this again in their lifetimes, it’s a one off that has required a one off decision.

Some, as we have seen quite vocally on social media, don’t like it. It’s a pill that needs to be swallowed, the league is bigger than a minority.

One thing I do know is that if the clubs would have been forced to finish the season behind closed doors, a number of them would be significantly weakened going into next season.

(Featured Image: Matthew Lofthouse)