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Public safety key as Highland League card postponed

All nine Breedon Highland League fixtures on Saturday were called off.

Highland League secretary John Campbell says safety was a priority after postponing the fixture card
Highland League secretary John Campbell says safety was a priority after postponing the fixture card

Secretary John Campbell says public safety was paramount after all of Saturday’s Breedon Highland League card was postponed.

Brechin City v Keith at Glebe Park, Formartine United v Wick Academy at North Lodge Park, and Fraserburgh v Brora Rangers at Bellslea had been called off on Friday.

Rothes v Deveronvale at Mackessack Park, Forres Mechanics v Huntly at Mosset Park, and Turriff United v Banks o’ Dee at the Haughs were postponed due to waterlogged pitches on Saturday morning.

However, the league then took the decision to postpone the remaining three games – Clachnacuddin v Nairn County at Grant Street Park, Lossiemouth v Inverurie Locos at Grant Park, and Strathspey Thistle v Buckie Thistle at Seafield Park.

Call had to be made

Although the pitches may have been playable, secretary Campbell said the advice to avoid unnecessary travel in the tricky conditions caused by Storm Babet was heeded.

He said: “We were quick to make the decision to postpone three games on Friday due to the weather predictions and the red and amber weather warnings.

“Brechin was in the red area and Wick and Brora would have had to travel through the amber area.

“The decision to put those games off was quite easy, but we still had six games to look at.

“We wanted to give them every opportunity to go ahead. We looked on Friday night and took into consideration all the information we had.

“The decision was made to look at it again at 9am on Saturday morning.

“By that point the weather had been worse than projected and there were ongoing concerns, so the decision was made to postpone all the games.

“We made the decision mainly based on public protection and preventing unnecessary travel.

“We had three clubs who identified that their pitches were playable.

“But, given the concerns we had for the safety of the general public, we made the decision to cancel all games.”

‘There comes a point when we have to take into consideration the safety of the public and help to support the emergency services’

The fixtures will be rearranged later in the season, and Campbell added: “It’s really important with everything involved in fulfilling a fixture that you give every opportunity for it to take place.

“But there comes a point when we have to take into consideration the safety of the public and help to support the emergency services and other public services by helping to prevent unnecessary travel.

“We reached that point on Saturday morning.

“It’s not an easy decision to advise clubs that games are going to be put off. But in terms of doing our bit and making sure we weren’t asking people to move about the country it was better for us to call a halt.

“Ultimately we need to keep people safe and, as a league, we have to do our bit to help and support public safety.”

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