Buxton fans still hungry for football to return, says chairman David Hopkins

Gary Hayward's side haven't played a league game since November 3. Photo: Rachel Atkins.

The Bucks' Northern Premier League campaign was put on hold after Derbyshire was placed in tier four by the Government last month.

And now, following Monday's announcement that the country has gone back into lockdown, all sport deemed non-elite has been postponed.

However, Mr Hopkins told The Advertiser that fans have let him know they remain keen to get back to the Tarmac Silverlands Stadium when sport can resume.

"We certainly keep in contact with people, obviously," he said prior to the lockdown announcement. "Buxton's a community in itself and people look out for each other.

"But at the moment I think the question when you bump into fans is 'when are we going to be back Dave? When are we going to be playing?

"And that's the question I can't answer at the moment, obviously.

"You know everyone's willing football to come back. But we've got to take a step back from that and realise this horrible virus, we need to get the other side of beating that and then get back to doing things we all enjoy and look forward to."

Buxton's season has already been a stop-start one since kicking off in September, with Gary Hayward’s side not playing a league contest since November 3.

Action was put on hold by the previous lockdown and also the postponement of the Northern Premier League due to previous restrictions on fans watching tier three clubs.

So far they have played eight of their scheduled 42 league matches and question marks remain over when and if football can resume.

In men’s football, elite sport is deemed all leagues from the Premier League to step two of the National League System. Teams in step three, including the Bucks, and below are unable to play or train at present.

A Football Association statement read: “It is extremely important that clubs, players, coaches, match officials, league officials, volunteers, parents, carers and facility providers adhere to the UK Government’s new national Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and we implore everyone to follow these.”