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Ross clubs face wait to find out if North West Sutherland League will kick off


By Will Clark

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ROSS-SHIRE football clubs face a wait to find out if the North-West Sutherland League can go ahead this season.

Tain Thistle won the North West Sutherland League last season.
Tain Thistle won the North West Sutherland League last season.

The North West Sutherland Amateur Football Association (NWSAFA) have set a deadline of Saturday, June 13 to decide if any league matches will be able to take place in 2020.

Tain Thistle are Division One champions with Inver, Invergordon Social Club and Lochbroom scheduled to play in Division Two.

However, the coronavirus pandemic led to all football in Scotland being cancelled on March 13, and a scheduled restart date of April 30 is looking unlikely.

Amateur leagues in Caithness and Inverness have announced they may have to cancel their season if they can’t start playing football in the summer.

NWSAFA secretary Hugh Morrison admits amateur football in Sutherland and Ross-shire is looking at the same fate.

“As we have two divisions, we need to start in June to get the season finished by September so it avoids clashing with the North Caledonian League,” he said.

“We are looking at a last starting date of the second Saturday in June. If we can’t get it finished then we won’t start it as there is no point.

“It might be a case where we will only be able to play cup competitions this season.

“But it is entirely out of our hands as we do not know when we will be able to get started.

“It is a question of waiting and see, which is the situation for all amateur football in Scotland.”

League matches take place on a Saturday and due to the geography of the division which stretches from Lochinver and Scourie on the north-west coast to Invergordon and Tain in Ross-shire, Morrison says playing games during midweek is out of the question.

“We can’t play every game during midweek because of the distances some teams have to travel,” he said.

“It could be possible for some teams in the division, but it definitely is impossible for other teams to do. We might face a year of doing nothing at all.”


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