Scarborough Athletic skipper Coulson frustrated by uncertainty over NPL campaign

Boro would be able to welcome supporters to the Flamingo Land Stadium after Scarborough was placed in Tier 2 by the government this week, but only four other NPL sides avoided the stricter Tier 3 restrictions in which no fans are allowed into grounds.

NPL clubs met virtually on Tuesday night and have been voting on whether to pause the season or not - with results expected on Thursday.

Coulson admits it’s hard for management and players alike to plan ahead without knowing what is going to happen and when games will get back underway.

“It’s really tough for players to prepare when we don’t know what is going to happen and everything is still up in the air,” said Athletic skipper Coulson.

“You see things on social media and get your hopes up, and then the next minute come across another post that is negative - so it’s hard to know what to believe.

“It looks like clubs will vote for a pause in the season as clubs at this level can’t operate without fans and especially without the support that teams in the league above have had - our level seems to have just been forgotten about.”

Coulson insists he’d be happy to extend the 2020/21 season into the summer months if it meant playing the campaign to a conclusion.

“Even if we have to play February to August to get the season finished I think the players would be up for that, we just want to get the games in and the season completed,” he added.

On a more positive note, the Boro skipper has used the pause in action to recover from the achilles knock that hampered his start to the season.

He added: “I’m feeling good now, which I suppose is a positive to come out of the break.

“I was struggling a bit in the two games I came back for, even though I played well, so it’s been good to rest it.”