With the 2019/20 season coming to a premature end, and all results expunged, Anstey Nomads Manager, Tony Blanchard, has turned his attentions to building for next season.

“It’s difficult to plan at the minute” said Blanchard “under the current circumstances we know very little about the next phase and when we can start training. We have to move forward as though it’s business as usual, so that we’re not behind schedule when we’re given the all-clear, but we know that it’s not going to happen any time soon, so everyone’s in a state of limbo.

“It was certainly disappointing for the season to end when it did” reflected Blanchard, “but it was the right thing to do though, football is put into perspective at times like this. I felt that we were just hitting our stride, so it would have been good to finish the season on a high note that we could carry into the next campaign.

“Results such as the win away to Shepshed Dynamo and the Cup victory against Heather St. John’s showed that we’re ready to mix with the best teams at this level, and though we lost away to Quorn, the performance was good enough to suggest we belong at the top end of the table, and that will be our aim next season.”

Whilst the Nomads endured a torrid start to the campaign, losing their first four matches, a 9-5 home defeat against Deeping Rangers, followed shortly by the return of Blanchard, seemed to prove turning points in the season. “They’d already begun to improve by that stage, their first win of the season had given them some belief, but that home defeat showed them that they weren’t where they needed to be.”

A run of seven undefeated matches followed for the Nomads and they would go on to lose only five more matches in the remainder of the season, with the Quorn defeat the only reverse in their final 10 matches.

“I think if we can keep the current squad together, with one or two additions, we can expect to fight for promotion” stated Blanchard “I’d like to see us perform better in the Cups next season as well. The FA Cup and FA Vase defeats were a big disappointment, going out to lower league opposition in both was a blow, but it was early in the season and our County Cup run showed that we were made of sterner stuff as the year progressed.”

The Nomads are waiting to learn of the fate of the County Cup final, in which they were scheduled to face Barwell at Holmes Park in late April. Both clubs hope to play the match at the start of next season but are waiting for the County FA to decide if it will go ahead when football can resume.