Grimsby Town boss Ian Holloway has lashed out at the English Football League, over concerns for his players’ welfare and fitness.
The ex-Queens Park Rangers, Blackpool, Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Millwall boss is a beloved name in football, and his comments on Sky Sports today uttered his trademark passion for the game.
Now well into the Football League season, Holloway has voiced his concerns for footballers’ fitness, with the shortened pre-season and the ever-heavy fixture list.
“It’s absolutely vital that players’ welfare is taken into consideration,” he said. “Right now I’m not sue it is! We haven’t done testing for months because we can’t afford it.
“Also, not playing for five or six months in our case has devastated the fitness of the lads…There has never been a situation like this in football, and you’re risking people’s health by asking them [to play] and using three substitutes – it’s really wrong and it should be at least five.”
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Having rushed to get the new footballing season underway as close to the usual start date, managers up and down the country are starting to lose players to fatigue issues.
That’s without mentioning the ongoing threat of the pandemic – both physically to the players and staff, and financially too, with fans still being unable to attend football matches.
Football is at a standstill right now. Holloway spoke strongly about his views and he’ll likely receive a lot of support for standing up and stating them.
Expect more and more to come forward in the coming weeks as the battles for football clubs intensifies, and expect the EFL to be forced into taking action sooner or later.
