Covid-19: Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver welcomes EFL move to introduce twice-weekly testing

It was confirmed on Wednesday that players and staff at all EFL teams will be tested twice every week from January 11 onward in an attempt to help detect asymptomatic cases of the new more infectious variant of the virus earlier.

The tests will be paid for by the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA).

The Football League (EFL) have made their move following "discussions with our medical advisers and public health officials" in response to the spate of match postponements that have affected fixtures across all three of their divisions in recent weeks.

In total, 52 games have been called off for reasons related to Covid-19 thus far in 2020/21 - six in the Championship, 34 in League One and 12 in League Two.

Up until this point, EFL clubs have only been required to test en masse before the first game of the season, once players returned from international duty and as and when individuals within their bubble displayed symptoms.

The EFL has been relying on medical guidance which advised that following protocols in training and on match-days would be enough to protect players and staff from the risk of infection, however it has now been decided that an intervention is required to try and bring a worsening situation under control.

A mandatory round of testing was scheduled for the first week of the New Year anyway, but the EFL will now fall in line with the Premier League and begin a regular programme, a move that Town's long-serving manager is fully behind.

“I do think that it is a good thing,” said Weaver, who contracted Coronavirus in mid-November and missed the Sulphurites' League Two clashes with Crawley and Leyton Orient while in self-isolation.

“Players do embrace when they’re celebrating goals, and the lads want to know that when they’re going and marking a player at a corner, for example, that it’s safe to do so, because he’s been tested and wouldn’t be there on the pitch if he had the virus.

“The new variant is spreading much more easily, so the chances of contracting it are now a lot higher. With that in mind, the game has to be looking to try and stay in control of the situation.

“More regular testing will enable clubs to do that, so you can’t argue with the decision to make it all mandatory.

“I certainly feel it was the right thing to do.”

EFL chief executive Trevor Birch has moved to explain the governing bodies decision to change tact, while thanking the PFA for agreeing to fund testing.

“We have repeatedly maintained that adhering to the stringent protocols implemented during the re-start last summer and then across all Clubs since the beginning of the season was going to be our best chance of beating the virus and to keep playing matches," he said.

“Only last week we took the decision to enhance these to further minimise risk, though with the new strain of the virus taking hold across parts of the country, it is now clear from our discussions with our medical advisors and public health officials that additional testing, operated in conjunction with strict protocols, may prove beneficial in the immediate short-term.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the PFA for their support in helping us to finalise a position on testing across all three divisions on a twice-weekly basis.

"We will continue to review the situation and make any adjustments or changes as circumstances dictate with the health and well-being of our players and club staff the overwhelming priority.”

Meanwhile, Town’s upcoming League Two fixtures against Salford City (January 22) and Tranmere (January 26) have both been brought forward to 7pm kick-offs.