Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove has confirmed that fans will not be able to return to stadiums from October 1 as the government sets to put more restrictions in place due to the rise in coronavirus cases.
As it stands, Step 2 clubs of the National League System - which includes Hereford - are classed as 'elite' meaning that games can currently only be played behind closed doors. From Step 3 and below, clubs have been playing with fans in attendance with restricted capacities and social distancing rules in place.
The government have been planning to allow fans to return to elite level grounds from October 1, hence why the National League season was set to start from that date, with the first league games taking place after the second qualifying round of the FA Cup.
But speaking on BBC Breakfast earlier, Mr Gove said that plans for staged return of fans will be paused, as well as pilot events that have up to 1,000 fans.
"We were looking at a staged programme of more people returning - it wasn't going to be the case that we were going to have stadiums thronged with fans," he said.
"We're looking at how we can, for the moment, pause that programme, but what we do want to do is to make sure that, as and when circumstances allow, get more people back.
"The virus is less likely to spread outdoors than indoors but again it's in the nature of major sporting events that there's a lot of mingling."
Merthyr Town - who play at step three - have already asked the Southern League to suspend their season due to the restrictions that they have to operate under in Wales. Likewise, Guernsey have pulled out of the Isthmian League.
The National League have already told clubs that the season cannot go ahead without fans, so when it will now start remains unclear. And even if the season does eventually get the go ahead, you have to take into account the winter months and how the weather notoriously decimates the sporting calendar.
More than 100 sports bodies have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask for emergency funding, warning of a 'lost generation of activity' because of the pandemic.
In the letter, the group urges the government to provide a 'sports recovery fund' so the sector can 'survive and stabilise'.
Some sort of funding will surely have to be provided, otherwise a lot of clubs will struggle to survive in the current climate.