Ringwood and Christchurch football teams forced to isolate after positive coronavirus tests

PLAYERS from Ringwood Town and Christchurch FC squads have been forced to isolate after two tested positive for coronavirus.

This follows a pre-season friendly between the two sides on Tuesday evening and means both teams’ fixtures will have to be changed to comply with government isolation guidelines.

Both players affected at from Ringwood Town. The match at the Macra Community Stadium ended 3-2 to the home side and was held behind closed doors with no spectators.

Ringwood Town and Christchurch FC’s management have each cancelled two pre-season friendlies and training sessions to allow their squads to self-isolate for 10 days.

Ringwood Town manager Richard Morse said: “This is a difficult situation, but we have done everything in line with the FA guidelines in an effort to reduce the impact on everyone concerned. We also informed the Wessex Football League’s Covid-19 co-ordinator as soon as possible. When speaking to him, he applauded Ringwood Town for our quick response.

“We have cancelled our training sessions and our two upcoming pre-season matches against Hamworthy Development and Whitely Wanderers. The plan at this stage is to be back training on Wednesday. However, we intend on contacting the league before resuming our fixture list.

“We did all we could to limit the impact of this on Christchurch FC and, I must say, they have been very gracious. Most importantly, the players concerned are well.”

Christchurch FC manager Ollie Cherrett said: “We had a good pre-season friendly against Ringwood Town on Tuesday and as management, we were pleased with the competitive edge. To then find out that two of their players have unfortunately contracted Covid-19, meaning our squad has to isolate for 10 days, really means pressing the pause button on our pre-season preparations.

“As a club, we had set up a program designed to get us fit and firing ready for our opening fixture in the FA Cup. Due to the recent developments, we have decided to postpone our upcoming friendlies with Merley Cobham Sports on Saturday and Hamworthy Town on Tuesday. This will obviously impact our pre-season development.

“Despite this, we are feeling positive for the new season. In particular, I think we are all looking forward to getting back to doing something we all enjoy while trying to win as many games as possible.”