After taking advice from the Scottish FA, the Breedon Highland League opted to postpone Saturday’s games following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The monarch spent 70 years on the throne and Highland League president George Manson believes cancelling matches is a mark of respect.
He said: “The Queen was on the throne for a very long time and she deserves our respect.
“So we had no problem in postponing the games as a mark of respect to her.”
League secretary John Campbell added: “Given that the Queen was patron of the SFA I think it’s right that as a mark of respect no professional games are played in Scotland this weekend.”
The nine games scheduled for Saturday afternoon – Brechin City v Wick Academy, Brora Rangers v Buckie Thistle, Deveronvale v Keith, Formartine United v Turriff United, Forres Mechanics v Clachnacuddin, Huntly v Fraserburgh, Inverurie Locos v Lossiemouth, Nairn County v Strathspey Thistle and Rothes v Banks o’ Dee – will be rearranged in due course.
Next weekend all 18 Highland League clubs are meant to be in Scottish Cup first round action, however, those ties could be postponed or rescheduled once the funeral arrangements for the Queen have been announced.
Mixed manager opinion
Forres manager Steven MacDonald would have liked to have seen Highland League games go ahead this weekend.
The Can-Cans boss said: “I’m not speaking for Forres Mechanics, this is just my own personal opinion.
“I’m sure everyone will have different views on it because everyone reacts to these circumstances differently.
“I respect everyone’s opinion but I think it comes down to personal choice.
“Mourning is a personal decision and I have huge respect for the circumstances and for the Queen.
“But I feel we could have been respectful while still playing football rather than going to a standstill.
“Personally I don’t agree with the decision.
“If we’d gone ahead everyone would have had black armbands and would have observed a minute’s silence and shown our respect and sympathy in a difficult situation.”
Clachnacuddin counterpart Jordan MacDonald can understand why football has been postponed.
He added: “I’m disappointed the game is off but once I heard the news I expected it to happen.
“In these situations I don’t think there’s a right answer because whatever decision was taken you wouldn’t please everyone.
“We want to be respectful, some people will want the games on and some people wouldn’t want them on.”
‘I’ve got no issues’
Both Brora manager Craig Campbell and Buckie boss Graeme Stewart believe the Highland League had to follow the lead of the SPFL and English leagues, who have postponed their games.
Campbell said: “It’s disappointing football is postponed, but we’ve got to show our respects and sometimes football has to take a back seat.
“When you see leagues above us and the leagues in England postponing games I think it was clear we would take the same path.
“There’s no right or wrong answer really, maybe at our level games could have carried on.
“It’s a difficult situation, personally I think it’s a mark of respect to the Queen.
“People have still been going to their work so maybe they’d like to go to the football as their weekend release but personally I’ve got no issues with the postponements.”
Buckie’s Stewart said: “It’s the right decision I think, all the clubs at a higher level postponed so I think we had to follow suit.
“You couldn’t really have the Highland League playing when everything else was off.
“We were looking forward to the game, however, you can see by the reaction worldwide that it has impacted everyone so I think it’s right we’re showing respect.”