FANS of “elite” non-league teams will be unable to visit “non-elite” clubs for this weekend’s FA Cup qualifying games — but home supporters will be welcome to attend. 

The FA’s announcement today, made in accordance with the government, was a further confusing hit to hopes for socially distanced crowds across England’s lower leagues.

Teams designated as elite — those participating in non-league’s top three divisions, the National League — will play their home ties behind closed doors. 

If they are playing away against a non-elite side — clubs at any step below the National League — they will now not be allowed to have their own fans present.

But any game hosted by a non-elite club will be attended by home fans, while away fans will also be allowed to attend such games if they are also supporting a non-elite side.

It means that games such as Corinthian-Casuals vs Dulwich Hamlet — non-elite and elite respectively — will only be allowed to have home fans present, despite their respective grounds being just six miles apart.

South-west London’s Casuals expressed bemusement at the announcement, which will impact games in a similar pattern across the country.

“As the coronavirus is clearly clever enough to differentiate between supporters of step two and three clubs … supporters of National League clubs — which include Dulwich Hamlet — are banned from spectating,” its statement read.

“We’d like to place on record that as a club we are not in favour of this utterly baffling ruling. We believe it is wholly unnecessary and we are having to put in place these restrictions under duress.”

“We don’t get it, either,” Dulwich tweeted.

It was unclear how the FA intended to police the covert admission of elite clubs’ fans, with the body declaring that all clubs involved “shall ensure that spectators of the visiting club are not in attendance at the match.”

The FA added that its position only currently applies to second-round qualifying and will be reviewed again prior to the third-round ties set for October 13.