It’s been a strange season with too much football at the start, too little in the middle and, for Locos, nothing that is particularly meaningful towards the end of the season.
It is only early February and, with regard to challenging for honours, the season is effectively over for half the Highland League teams after the first round of the Highland League Cup.
I wasn’t able to attend Locos’ game with Nairn on Saturday, being hauled off to a family gathering in Edinburgh.
However, it appears Nairn deserved their victory and Locos contributed to their own downfall through indiscipline.
Notwithstanding that, and I know I appear to be banging the drum on this, all the new Scottish League play-off system has done so far is to distort the season in the North.
The league programme has been brought forward, the regional cups are over by the autumn, the SFA has brought the Scottish Cup forward, and the League Cup has become a late winter competition, rather than a spring one which provides competitive interest for clubs after any league challenge has faded.
I shall be interested to know what club treasurers have made of it all. Locos’ crowds didn’t look particularly healthy at the season’s start. For example, the Aberdeenshire Cup “derby” against Turriff at The Haughs on a fine Wednesday evening back in August drew a poor attendance. With midweek fixtures starting earlier to tackle the weather backlog, you are left with the distinct impression that the matches are being arranged and re-arranged to suit the SFA and not the clubs, let alone the paying customer.
The SFA should recognise that North football always has a different issue with the weather during the winter months. Rather than tampering with fixtures at “our” end, they should be prepared to build in some flexibility with the play-off dates in April and May.
It’s so ironic that after treating Highland football with such disdain over the past century (the Scottish national media still do!), they are now calling the tune!
There is another solution. The SFA could finance undersoil heating for all Highland League clubs. And possibly some heating for supporters.
And pigs might fly and Inverurie Locos will win the Scottish Cup!!