Wet weather creates huge fixtures backlog

11:53am Friday 15th December 2000

AMATEUR footballers are facing a fixture backlog as the wet weather continues to bite into the football programme.

The BFP-sponsored South Bucks Youth League is six weeks behind schedule and some team have not played for five weeks running.

Last Sunday only one match in the Youth League survived and league bosses are considering applying to the County FA to extend the season into June.

League spokesman John Radford said: "This is the worst season for postponements since the league started eight years ago and the traditionally bad months of January and February are yet to come."

League bosses will now discuss the problem at a meeting in the New Year.

Chairman Ken Turnbull said: "We will move heaven and earth to play all the games."

He would not rule out the possibility of midweek fixtures, double headers, or even an appeal to the Berks and Bucks FA to extend the season as a way of getting all the games played.

The Wycombe and District League are also planning a meeting next month to discuss their tactics to beat the backlog.

Chairman Tom Hooker said: "The fixture list is a mess. The grounds are waterlogged. It is the worst I've ever known it and I've been involved with the League since 1966."

The High Wycombe Sunday Combination is also suffering.

Fewer than half of their matches beat the weather last weekend and the fixtures in the County Cup and Combination Challenge Cup were also affected.

Combination spokesman Martin Cyster said: "Last weekend was our worst so far for postponements and some County Cup games have been postponed two or three times but we've had it worse than this is the past."

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