Fort William will be on home turn to tackle Clydebank in the Scottish Cup next month after the Bankies reversed their decision not to play at night.
The second preliminary round tie – set for Saturday, September 2 – was all set to be switched to the home of Golspie Sutherland due to the Ben Race running at Claggan Park that afternoon.
Fort reluctantly asked fellow North Caledonian League side Golspie to host the match after several attempts to find a field closer failed for a variety of reasons, including one club turning them down.
It seemed as if the West of Scotland Premier League club would have to travel almost 450-miles to George V Park, with Fort poised for a 112-mile trip each way.
A date clash the annual Ben Race has never happened before, so all attempts to find a solution failed, leading to Golspie being lined up and accepted by the Scottish FA as a suitable choice.
Later kick-off plea was rejected
However, on Friday afternoon, the West Highland side, managed by Alan Gray, confirmed a change from their opponents means a 7.30pm start has been agreed, after the Ben Race.
Fort’s statement confirmed: “We had originally proposed an evening kick-off more than three weeks ago, however Clydebank initially declined this offer. We were disappointed by this as we believed this was the best solution to the problem.
“This is due to the fact the SFA did not allow a fixture reversal to Holm Park, Clydebank, and the game could also not take place any later than September 2, which is why the evening kickoff at Claggan Park would make sense.
“After this offer was declined, we made attempts to secure an alternative ground for the game as close to Fort William as we could in places such as Inverness and Grantown.
“Some SFA-approved grounds closest to Fort William already had games being played on them on that date, another was declined by a club.
“Out of the options available to us we believed that the next best option rather than the evening kick-off at Claggan was to play the game in Golspie.
“We thank Golspie Sutherland for agreeing to host the game. The SFA were satisfied with our strong efforts into securing an alternative ground for this game.
Statement and updated news on Scottish Gas Scottish Cup fixture👇 pic.twitter.com/G5NoV4PvIv
— Fort William FC (@FortWilliamFC) August 18, 2023
Fort set to welcome Clydebank north
“After this news was confirmed, Clydebank decided to retract their initial decision, and decided to accept our original offer from three weeks ago of an evening kick-off on September 2.
“We are glad that this issue has finally came to an all-round mutual agreement as the situation has unnecessarily been dragged on, considering the initial offer was made more than three weeks ago.
“We look forward to welcoming Clydebank and their supporters to Claggan Park and we are hopeful for an entertaining game of Scottish Cup football.
“The club can now fully focus on the upcoming North Caledonian League game as we travel to Recreation Grounds, Invergordon, where we face Orkney on Saturday. Kick-off time is 1pm .”
🆕 Clydebank and Fort William have now come to an agreement to play our Scottish Cup second prelim round tie on the evening of Saturday 2nd September at Claggan Park, with a 7:30pm kick off.
Full details 👉 https://t.co/GqWyeM4SSd pic.twitter.com/KuzpzeHILH
— Clydebank FC (@clydebankfc) August 18, 2023
