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Season Cancellation: WOTB + COVID-19

Updated: Apr 12, 2020

All aspects of the game have been impacted by the lastest FA Women's National League (FAWNL) season being ended prematurely.


It would be weird for Women on the Bench (WOTB) to not feel affected too. Therefore, this post will be different from everything else on the website.

 

We'll start with a quick introduction

Hi, I'm Beth and I run WOTB. Alongside this website, I work as Media Officer for Lincoln City Women. This might have been obvious by the number of times the team has been name-dropped in articles.


When I found out last month that the season had been called null and void, I was heartbroken. Lincoln City isn't just my job, it's working for the team I support and a job that I love.



To have the rest of the season taken away from me was painful. This was worsened by the fact it's an unpaid job and I'm not far away from leaving university and looking to move on to somewhere I can make money. It isn't how I wanted to part ways with the team.

 

How has the cancellation affected me?

As well as having an emotional impact, COVID-19 has affected my workload. Oddly, it has increased - not a great thing when I'm swimming in uni deadlines.


I had a routine when games were on that fit perfectly into my week. However, with no football to report, I've spent a lot of time coming up with ideas to keep our social media platforms active.


This has meant I have edited many, many videos and spent ages chasing up players to provide me with content.


Many social media accounts for teams have been lacking in content. Some bigger teams have plenty of material to do throwbacks or player interviews. This isn't the same lower down the men's football pyramid or below the Championship level in women's leagues.

 

What does it mean for others?

I spoke to the Lincoln City Women Media Assistant, Andri Sveinsson, about his thoughts:

"It's definitely disappointing for all of us. The situation has forced us to get a bit more creative with our media and I feel like that has really brought everyone together in a time of need."

 

What have I created?

Here's a shameless plug of a few of the videos I've made and posted since the league was cancelled. This is an example of that media teams around the world have been making in these uncertain, football-less times.



A Q&A video around the theme of who the players would/wouldn't want to be quarantined with.








Some videos showing that Izzy the Imp -

the team mascot - was staying home and what she was up to.







Several rounds of the home top bin challenge with Twitter polls - culminating in these four entries in the final.









This #HeadItOnChallenge - best watched with the sound on!





 

What's waiting on the other side?

Pre-season hopefully.


But in the grand scheme of things, my issues are minuscule. It's been said 1,000 times since the COVID-19 outbreak, there are more important things than football.

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