Local League Football - Cups will be priority after freeze (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Local League Football - Cups will be priority after freeze

12:06pm Monday 27th December 2010 in Cricket

CUP competitions in the Baines Bagguley North Lancashire and District Football League will be completed despite the hardest-hitting winter in almost 20 years.

League secretary Lawrie Postlethwaite had to make the difficult call to postpone the entire league programme for a third successive week on Friday - the first time in the league’s history - as snow swept through the region.

But he told the Westmorland Gazette cup competitions would not be forfeited due to a fixture backlog and the finals scheduled for the Giant Axe stadium in Lancaster would go ahead.

Mr Postlethwaite said: “We will try and finish the cup competitions as soon as possible even if this weather continues for two or three weeks longer.

“At some time the cup competitions will take priority over league games but we have booked Giant Axe for all finals so we will have to get the teams through to the finals by mid-April.”

And Postlethwaite is hopeful the league can finish on time, especially with many football grounds needing to be ready for the start of the cricket season.

He added: “The frost and ice has come early this season and has been so severe the management committee took the unprecedented decision to cancel entire fixture lists, which I cannot remember them having to do before.

“It will be hard for the players at the end of the season with the amount of midweek games that will be played - some will love it, but others won’t.”

The Bluefin Westmorland Football League has been four weeks without games.

Secretary Ron Wilkinson said a dry autumn had meant many teams could get plenty of games played before the big chill, but he expects disruption through ice and snow into 2011.

He said: “At this point I don’t think we are too badly off and some clubs have played many of their matches. It has not been as wet this year meaning games could go ahead but it is what happens after Christmas and the New Year that will affect the schedule.”

With most of the league cups already past the first round, he was also confident the cup competitions would be completed on time.

n Both leagues take a winter break for two weeks and return on Saturday, January 8.