FOOTBALL has been suspended until January 31, meaning Worcester City's subsequent fixtures have all been postponed.

In a statement, the Midland Football League confirmed that, as a result of the majority of clubs being put into tier four coronavirus restrictions, the decision had been made to immediately suspend all league fixtures until the end of January.

The MFL statement said: "Following yesterday's announcement on the placing on the majority of MFL clubs in tier four, meaning that all affected clubs cannot train or play matches, the Board have decided to immediately suspend all league fixtures until 31st January 2021.

"We will continue to review the situation in line with further Government announcements and update you accordingly."

This means Worcester City will play no league matches until that date.

Earlier this week, the club confirmed its January 4 fixture against Boldmere St. Michael's had been postponed.

The game had been scheduled for a 7.45pm kick-off on that date, but Boldmere did not want to play for safety reasons and postponed all fixtures until at least January 9.

The cancellation also means City's game against Haughmond this weekend will not go ahead.

Nationally, the Premier League has rejected calls for a "circuit breaker" suspension to games, despite calls from managers including West Brom's Sam Allardyce for a short halt to games.

This came after the league revealed a record high 18 positive Covid-19 tests.

A statement from the Premier League said: "The Premier League has not discussed pausing the season and has no plans to do so.

"The League continues to have confidence in its Covid-19 protocols to enable fixtures to be played as scheduled, and these protocols continue to have the full backing of Government."

On Wednesday afternoon, it was confirmed all Premier League fixtures would now revert to being behind closed doors as the Government placed almost all of England under tier three or four coronavirus restrictions.