It is with great regret that the STAR Board has decided to postpone the 2020 Hall of Fame Evening, scheduled for 23 March, until later in the year when it is hoped that the current pandemic has subsided.
Planning the Hall of Fame and the induction event takes us about six months work each year. Fortunately, the research, voting process, contacting inductees, creating the presentation, the brochures, the certificates, updating the online Hall of Fame with new material will not go to waste and we will look for a new date, probably at one of the early autumn 2020 international breaks.
We have thought it wiser to take this step now (ten days ahead of the event) rather than wait because the projected figures suggest the situation will worsen. If we delay a decision we will inevitably cause concern about whether to attend for our guests, our members and audience and for ourselves as organisers – and the sheer force of events (given what is currently happening in Italy) may well make that decision for us much nearer the date and when it would be more difficult to publicise the change.
Even if we went ahead on 23 March we may well find that the event cannot attract the audience that we feel it, and our inductees, deserve due to cases of illness and self-isolation. We are also mindful that the age profile of the organisers, guests and likely audience leans towards the more ‘at risk’ groups.
It’s likely there will be significant disruption to the whole football calendar over the next few months and of course STAR is not immune to this. As for matches themselves and travel to matches STAR, like Reading FC, will be guided by decisions made at a national level.
We regret any inconvenience this has caused to you and your plans.
STAR