St Albans City’s Ian Allinson is grateful that there is finally some clarity to the future after the National League brought the season to an end.

Like everyone else, the City boss had been completely in the dark about what was going to happen in the top two tiers of non-league football as the National League looked at whether it was feasible to complete the current campaign once the coronavirus pandemic had passed.

But with the news that the season has now officially been closed, even if what happens to final positions is still to be determined, he can at least start to turn his attentions to the next campaign.

Speaking on the club’s website he said: “I think at this stage all the clubs wanted was a little clarity and this latest decision has gone some way to achieving that.

“Obviously we have to move on to a second vote which will decide how to conclude the season which could be more problematic in terms of promotion and relegation scenarios.

“It might seem strange to be talking about the new campaign with so many issues still to be resolved but at least I can now engage with other clubs about the possibility of pre-season matches, whenever that may be.

“It also gives me time to speak to the players about re-engagements as my attention now will be looking to build a competitive squad for whenever we get back to competitive football.

“As we know these are difficult times for everyone and there is no blueprint for what we’re going through. Obviously I’ll be sitting down with the co-owners at some stage to discuss our thought process for the coming months.”

The National League had said the vote on whether to finish the year had delivered an almost unanimous verdict.

They said: “With almost 90 per cent of responses returned it is evident a clear majority of clubs are in favour [of ending the season].

“The board has chosen to communicate the decision now to enable clubs to make business decisions with greater clarity as soon as possible.”

The league added: “The options concerning the sporting outcomes of the 2019-20 season remain under careful and timely consideration.”