Highland League clubs have been warned the season will not finish until June as officials struggle to clear an unprecedented backlog of football fixtures.
Only two of seven league matches survived last night, bringing the tally of games postponed this season to 139. With 93 games still to be scheduled before the end of the season, clubs are bracing themselves for an extended campaign to help ease the congestion.
Highland League secretary John Grant would not confirm the season will be extended as far as June but he did admit the number of postponements this season is the highest during his 34-year tenure.
Grant said: “I took over in 1976 and I have never known there to have been so many games postponed. We all accept the league will have to be go on longer than anticipated. My biggest concern is about the clubs being able to fulfil their fixtures with weddings, holidays and the like later in the season.”
Clubs are being encouraged to put forward their ideas to clear the backlog.
Champions Cove Rangers have agreed to travel to Claggan Park on the May Day holiday of May 3 to face Fort William.
Cove secretary Duncan Little said: “We did the same four years ago and are happy to repeat. We have had more games postponed at Allan Park since Christmas time than in the whole of the previous 10 seasons.”
Wick Academy will also put forward proposals to play games on a Friday night and on a Sunday afternoon. They have also expressed willingness to forgo the 110-mile rule which states clubs need not travel beyond the distance to midweek games.
Under the current rule Wick can only make the midweek trip to Brora and Clach but they are willing to extend it to travel as far as Grantown to play Strathspey Thistle.
Wick secretary Alan Farquhar said: “We are trying to help ourselves as well as the Highland League in trying to combat the backlog as we are only just halfway through our season having played just 19 of our 34 games.
“It is every club’s responsibility to tackle the backlog. We are prepared to play outwith the 110-mile limit but it needs other clubs to do the same.
“We are prepared to play on a Friday night and the following Sunday afternoon, but other clubs also need to play their part.”
Should the campaign need to be continued beyond the scheduled end date of May 15 clubs will face the prospect of having to extend players’ contracts for another month, with many due to expire in May. In anticipation of the delays, the Highland League’s end-of-season awards dinner has also been rescheduled from Friday, June 4, to Friday, June 18.