The start of the 2020-21 Highland League season has been paused until Saturday November 28 at the earliest.
A 16-game campaign had been scheduled to kick off on Saturday October 17 with the first three rounds of fixtures released nine days ago. However, the decision to delay the beginning of the season was taken at a league management committee meeting last night.
Starting the campaign on November 28 or extending the pause will be considered by clubs at a meeting during the week beginning Monday November 9.
The decision has come following the Scottish Government’s tightening of Covid-19 restrictions last week which has delayed the return of fans to stadiums in Scotland.
The government’s indicative date for the return of supporters being allowed to return to sporting events had been Monday October 5.
However, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced last week that a number of changes scheduled for that date would be pushed back as a result of a rise in the number of coronavirus infections across the country.
Highland League clubs have been clear in their opinion throughout the pandemic that playing without supporters coming through the turnstiles and the ability to host matchday hospitality would not be financially sustainable.
A range of options were considered at last night’s meeting including mothballing the 2020-21 campaign – but that is seen as a last resort.
League secretary Rod Houston said: “What was important that the clubs sat down, everyone had their say and they considered the options carefully because there were a range of options available that they wanted to look at.
“The decision was reached in two stages. Firstly they decided to pause and then decided on the length of the pause to allow us to do anything meaningful and also see if public health circumstances were going to change going into the winter.
“Just as in March my personal opinion is that the league management committee has made a very wise call rooted in understanding the context of the situation.”
The delay to the start of the season means clubs are facing an even longer period without being able to generate significant revenue, with the last fixtures in the league played in mid-March.
Houston added: “There is still a difficult period ahead for clubs with the start of the season being paused.
“But the bottom line is that the clubs see spectators and the ability of spectators to attend games as essential, not only for the revenue they generate which is vital for clubs, but there’s a community aspect because clubs are part of the community and it’s the local communities that support the clubs.”