The Southern Counties East Football League have decided not to go ahead with a supplementary cup this spring.

There were hopes of introducing a one-off cup competition to keep teams active following the curtailment of the 2020/21 league season but only on the proviso fans would be able to attend matches.

Levels of supporter attendance remain uncertain as does the ability for clubs to open up their catering facilities. The decision to scrap the plans followed a board meeting.

The league said in a statement: “Throughout this campaign we have always stated that football would only be feasible at our level if spectators were allowed to attend – a view shared by our clubs.

“Unfortunately, there has been no change in the guidance for non-elite football in the past few weeks so it was unanimously agreed that we would not be able to go ahead as intended with the competition.

“Clubs can resume training if they wish from March 29, but unfortunately we will not be providing any structured competition until the 2021/22 season. It is imperative that those clubs that do resume training follow the guidelines.

“The directors are continuing to work on initiatives with the ‘FA Club Consultancy Programme’ to support and develop clubs in the coming months, and separately, to make our league more inclusive. This will hopefully benefit our league ahead of and during next season, and ensure that our players, match officials and spectators enjoy and are entertained by SCEFL football.”

The knock-out cup idea was circulated among the clubs in the Premier Division and Division 1 of the SCEFL earlier this month and 28 of those showed an interest