COLWYN Bay manager Craig Hogg claims the situation regarding a lack of competitive football is now at a “tipping-point”.

The Seagulls were expected to challenge for promotion during their second season back in the Welsh domestic system, but a series of high-profile departures to the top-flight or English stricture has thrown this prospect into doubt.

Hogg is mindful that there are more important things other than football causing distress at the present time. But that does not detract from what a big part of people’s lives has been taken away from them in recent months.

He said: “The lockdown has been a nightmare experience for us all and the pandemic has been so cruel in so many ways.

“It feels self-centred talking about football when COVID has robbed many people of their loved ones and their livelihoods. But for us in Tier 2, it’s taken away something we all live for and its robbed us of a genuine purpose.

“We’ve lost players and following on from the local and fire-break lockdowns, we now haven’t trained together as a group for a considerable amount of time, after training so hard together for three months.

“We’ve maintained contact more so to make sure they are all okay rather than to keep tabs on where they are at with their fitness as it’s pretty evident to us at least, that we won’t be playing any football again this year in Tier 2.

“I feel we are now at a tipping point where realism is heavily out-weighing much of the misguided optimism. I think you will probably see clubs start to take the initiative themselves in the coming weeks.”

Hogg added it was now time for the Football Association of Wales to “form a sensible action plan”, so that people aren’t holding onto false hope.

“That can be just as cruel as the pandemic itself,” he added.

“We need to know a cut-off point and we need to know that if the season doesn’t start by a certain date, then it won’t be starting at all.

“I’d like to see us get going in the new year in a lighter version, but only with the proviso that there will be promotion and relegation.

“I don’t think clubs wouldn’t sign up to that anyway and I’m sure it would almost certainly trigger many to then follow the lead of Merthyr Town, who chose to self-hibernate until football returns to some form of normal state. That was a big gutsy call by them and one I’m sure they stand by and it wouldn’t surprise me to see other clubs follow suit eventually.”