Kettering Town on the 'road to recovery' after Covid outbreak

Kettering Town are hoping to make a return to competitive football a week on Saturday (October 24) following an outbreak of Covid-19 within the squad and backroom team.

It’s been a torrid week for the Poppies as they were forced to postpone their Vanarama National League North clash with Southport last weekend and they then withdrew from the Emirates FA Cup with Brackley Town advancing into the fourth qualifying round after the two county rivals had been due to meet on Tuesday night.

Kettering’s league game at AFC Fylde scheduled for this weekend has also been called off and has since been re-arranged for Tuesday, October 27.

But the Poppies are hoping those affected will have recovered in time for next Saturday, although they are currently without an opponent after scheduled opponents Guiseley booked their place in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup which takes place on that date.

In their latest update, the club confirmed that “everyone who tested positive for Covid-19 is now on the road to recovery and in most cases thankfully reporting only mild symptoms”.

Those affected, which include club legend Brett Solkhon while manager Paul Cox is also understood to have test positive, will continue to isolate as they club continues talks with doctors over the safe return to training.

Nonetheless, it has been a testing time for the club.

Chairman David Mahoney said: “We didn’t take Saturday’s decision lightly, we worked with Southport to try to leave it as late as we could to try to get the game on and it just wasn’t to be.

“And it was the same thing with Tuesday. We looked at absolutely every option whether it was youth players, loan players and everything to try to do it but then you are constantly pushing a rock up a hill and it became apparent that it wasn’t the right thing to do.

“We have got the lads in the playing squad who have tested positive and they are obviously younger, fitter and stronger so have everything on their side and we have older people in the backroom and management staff so we are just making sure everyone is okay.

“We have been trying to stay in touch with everyone without trying to be too annoying.

“The symptoms most were reporting were akin to a heavy cold so, hopefully, they will ride it out and we will get back to normal.

“I am absolutely gutted for the club and fans but the most important thing is making sure those affected are okay.”

One crumb of comfort for the club was the confirmation that they will receive the £1,875 that was paid out of the FA’s prize fund to the losers of third qualifying round ties this week.

And there was some further good news for Kettering this week as they confirmed they have now officially received their ‘B’ ground grading, which is required to remain at Step 2.

The grading will last for the next three years and comes after a huge amount of work had been put in to bring the ground up to standard.

The club installed a new 256-seat stand, a new six turnstile block replacing the three we had last season, a new two turnstile block for away fans, over 80 meters of four tier terracing, 12 more bays extending the terrace at the ‘TinHat End’ of the ground, which came about after a mass fundraising effort organised by the Supporters Trust, a new KidsZone for younger fans and a dedicated player’s medical room.

The grading means the ground now has an official capacity rating of 3,131 – the highest ever obtained at Latimer Park.