It was hard not to feel sorry for Huntly when the scheduled live broadcast of their Scottish Cup first round tie was cancelled.
BBC Scotland announced last month that the Black and Golds’ clash with Pollok at Newlandsfield would be shown.
As a result, the tie was switched from Saturday afternoon to Friday evening only for the BBC to pull out last Wednesday citing “an exceptional demand on resources”.
Given events in the wider world and the death of Queen Elizabeth II it’s understandable that the broadcaster’s resources will have been stretched.
However, that will still be of scant consolation to Huntly.
The Black and Golds players may not get another chance in their careers to appear in a live game on national television.
Although after the event – a 6-0 defeat for Huntly – some might say it was a blessing the fixture wasn’t shown!
But regardless of the outcome the exposure and publicity generated by a live game would provide a great boost to any Breedon Highland League club.
On a practical level, some of Allan Hale’s squad had to work overtime to get the hours off to travel to Glasgow to fulfil the fixture, while some had to take unpaid leave.
Fan frustration
Supporters of the Christie Park club were also inconvenienced, although around 20 did still manage to attend.
Huntly’s supporters club investigated the possibility of running a bus to the fixture, but after it was moved to Friday there wasn’t enough demand.
Many, you would imagine, had anticipated watching it from the comfort of their own home.
Had the game been on Saturday in all likelihood there would have been sufficient demand to justify the supporters club running a bus.
Unfortunately it was too late for the game to be moved back a day following the announcement about the broadcast cancellation.
Due to an exceptional demand on our resources we are unable to provide live coverage of the Scottish Cup tie between Pollok v Huntly this Friday on BBC Scotland.
— BBC Scotland Comms (@BBCScotComms) September 14, 2022
It is also believed that Pollok and Huntly are still waiting for confirmation about whether or not they will receive the modest broadcast fee.
Surely the clubs have to be paid? After all it wasn’t their fault the game wasn’t screened.
Clearly BBC Scotland had difficult decisions to make last week and I don’t envy them.
The national broadcaster has been a supporter of Scottish football and the Scottish Cup in particular for a very long time.
But for fans of Huntly and the Highland League in general the events of last week left a bitter taste in the mouth.
I imagine plenty of people noted that the FA Cup second qualifying round tie between Walton & Hersham v Chatham Town was broadcast live over the weekend and the usual Scottish Premiership highlights programmes made it to air.
For Highland League clubs and players being involved in a live televised fixture is a rare and unique experience.
Hopefully, for Huntly and other clubs in the north, their time on the big stage will come.
