THE return of junior football has been welcomed by club coaches.

On Tuesday, Barrow and District Junior Association Football League (BDJFL) announced that their season will restart for all age groups from April 3.

Junior teams have not played any games since December after the third national lockdown suspended their 2020/21 season.

Neil James, Under 9s coach at Dalton United, is excited to restart the season.

He said: “It is good news.

“I am raring to go and looking forward to getting back to it.

“The kids are really looking forward to it too.

“I have told parents that we will be going back into training on March 30. I think the parents are cheering that junior football is returning too and have told me how excited they are.

“The children have got that buzz now where they are going back to school to see all their friends and they will now be going back to football too. That excitement is just building now and it will be great to be back.

"I think it shows that we are getting a bit of normality back in our lives too.”

The news has also been welcomed too by Ross Longmire, coach at Walney Island Yellows Under 11s.

He commented: "I think everyone is pretty excited to be honest, especially the kids. They have had such a long time away from the game.

"My lad can’t wait to get to back to it, he is really looking forward to playing again. The lockdown has disrupted all of their routines and I hope they can all get back into it when the season returns.”

Throughout lockdown, the under-11s side have been helped with coach Andy Ireland setting the players weekly challenges.

BDJFL chairman Ben Shirley revealed that there was a huge support to resume the season.

The Barrow councillor said: “The league is run by its member clubs, and I am pleased that the clubs were well represented at our recent SGM which was called specifically to rule on the way forward in terms of concluding the 2020/21 season.

“The member clubs voted overwhelmingly in favour of restarting on Saturday April, 3 with the league’s knockout cup also running alongside the league programme.

“The league’s priority is always the welfare of the players, officials and spectators and we are all now looking forward to the safe return of youth grassroots football across the Barrow and District League from April.

“I want to thank the league’s executive committee, especially the secretary and fixture secretary, for working hard behind the scenes to put a realistic programme together for our clubs to complete the season, during these especially challenging times.”

The league hope to finish the season by May, but the FA has granted them permission to play in June if necessary.

Although the league and BDJFL Cup will restart in April, BDJFL has confirmed that the Ulverston Hospital Cup and Furness FA Cup will not take place this season.