THE restart of the North West Counties Football League season looks set to be delayed further.

In a statement, the league confirmed they are proposing to restart their competitions on December 19 – two weeks later than planned – but they insist no final decision has been made.

The league says it has had communication from the FA that clubs from areas that will be placed under Tier 3 restrictions when the current national lockdown ends on Wednesday will have to play matches behind closed doors.

While clubs in Tier 2 will be able to admit a limited amount of paying spectators, they will not be able to serve food or drink inside their grounds.

Prior to lockdown, clubs in "non-elite" leagues were able to admit spectators to matches regardless of what tier they were in.

As yet, there has been no word from the Northern Premier League as to their plan for restarting games. Before the tiers were announced, they were working towards restarting on week commencing December 7.

As it stands, matches in the FA Trophy and FA Vase are still set to go ahead.