Kennie

It's came about through a set of circumstances involving postponements which are either weather related or cup related. Some games were put in place rather than have the team without a game where an opponent is available. It became evident after these fixtures were listed. Consideration also had to be given where the opponents are groundsharing. It's easy to say - "Just swap the Rob Roy fixture to Meadow at home." It doesn't just alter that fixture. It alters the reversed fixture back to Guys Meadow where Cumbernauld are already playing. Switching the Largs game just moves the problem onto Largs and they would end up with a run of away games. It is going to involve juggling of some other fixtures to bring about some sort of balance. I am aware of the situation and have been in touch with Irvine Meadow to inform them that I will look into resolving it.

Ah, I see it now. You're scared you can't win the league on the pitch so you want to win it in the Boardroom.

I'm not the one taking things seriously. Seems like it did hit the target though. And the last time I wore a blazer The Beatles were top of the charts with She Loves You.

So says the man using an alias.

Play fair? Other than the 2 Wednesdays used at the start of the season, Darvel have had 1 extra midweek game. Of the 2 Wednesdays that were used at the start of the season, one of them was abandoned. That abandoned game was then played on a Saturday. So in actual terms Darvel have not played any more midweek games than anyone else in the division and in some cases it's actually less. How's that for fairness?

As you said it's not going to finish on 16th March, postponed fixtures will be fitted into the weeks between then and 11th May. My counterpart in the East has a number of empty dates to fill up between the dates of fixtures that are listed, whereas I have listed games for each Saturday.

Tell you what. You tell us all where the missing fixtures are and I'll tell you when Glens play Beith.

One week it'll be 1:30PM then the next it'll be 2PM then it'll be 1:30PM again then 1:30PM or is it 2? The 1:30 KO is to bring in a bit of uniformity. If clubs want to change their KO time all they need to do is ask. That way those with lights that want to use them, can. Those with lights that don't want to use them, don't need to.

Here's some straws for you to clutch at.

Again, what you refer to is impossible. When a fixture is put on the website it is done once only. It then appears automatically on every list available. So if it listed on the Club's individual list it will also be on the week by week list. Trying to deflect from your original gripe by mentioning the Glenafton v Beith game won't wash. Basically, you've had a mare. Admit it and we'll all move on.

You do realise that what you stated is impossible, surely? 9 Played + 16 Listed + 5 Postponed = 30 15 Opponents, = 15 home games + 15 away games = 30 We don't play 34 league games.

My first thought here was to leave it alone. It's not worth the effort. But no, my curiosity got the better of me. So, please help me out, because I'm now worried that I've lost 4 fixtures somewhere and I just can't find them anywhere. Beith have played 9 games in the League, they have a further 16 listed with dates, that leaves me with 5 still to go back on the list. Home against Arthurlie, Gartcairn & Troon. Away to Glenafton & Hurlford. Where's the other 4? It can't be the Scottish Cup, they're no longer in it. The same goes for the Scottish Junior Cup. It can't be in the South Challenge Cup, they're playing in it on Saturday. It can't be the West of Scotland Cup because they're playing in it on the 25th. Now, as far as I'm aware that's it, but if you can point out the 4 missing fixtures, I would really appreciate it.

Fixtures altered to allow playing of the Strathclyde Demolition Cup and the Clydebuilt Home Improvement Scottish Junior Cup as voted for by the clubs in membership of the WoSFL. All clubs in the First Division have a fixture. 3 in the Junior Cup, 1 in the Strathclyde Cup and 12 in the League.

It looked to me that you were. All those decent summer and autumn nights with no fixture and we get one for a freezing cold November night. The Lowland league played plenty of fixtures midweek when the weather was decent. That to me, implied that the SLFL were not scheduling fixtures for midweek as they had played plenty early on. But just to be clear, the SLFL have the benefit of every team having floodlights, the WoSFL does not. There’s even teams in the Premier Division without lights. I can only utilise 2 midweeks where there is sufficient natural light to allow me to keep a balance. If not, I get complaints from teams playing extra home midweeks just because they’ve got lights and because it means they lose out on a Saturday home gate income. How about being proactive for a change The fixtures that have been scheduled for a “freezing cold November night” are as you said reactive. Reactive because they were all postponed games. Games that were postponed for one reason or another that without the power of foretelling the future, I can’t know about. These midweek games were put in because some Premier Division teams are still in single figures of games played. I’m only trying to bring a bit of balance. I could have put more midweeks in at the start of the season. Yet these games would probably still be postponed and the same teams would still be 2 or 3 games behind others.

Like this?

Just so I'm clear with what you want. All teams had 2 midweek fixtures at the start of the season, so you want fixtures added to that to be played midweek in Mid-August and September? The midweek game that is added is a postponed fixture. I don't know what games are going to be postponed in November when I'm making the list in July.

A quick visit whilst I put my point of view across. First point to note is that the Strathclyde Demolition Cup is also taking preference over League games on Saturday. Eight ties are taking place and 4 of the First Division teams are involved. There’s 7 league games across 4 of the divisions and 6 of them were rescheduled because I was able to pair them off. Clydebank and Rob Roy were both idle in the Premier Division and I did not give them a game because I thought it was too soon after their last encounter on 9th September at Holm Park. Clydebank had only played one other league game since then and also Holm Park was not available as Yoker were at home. Both clubs applied to bring their game forward from January which they are allowed to do thanks to a rule in the Constitution. I accepted the request. Glasgow Perthshire and Muirkirk were similar in that they were both idle and as they were both playing each other on 30th September, I didn’t pair them off on 7th October. Both teams requested the game and I accepted the request. In Kilwinning’s case, I was asked for an explanation as to why they didn’t have a game. I gave Kilwinning an explanation in regards to possible games against the only 2 teams available. Blantyre and Cambuslang. Blantyre – Kilwinning v Blantyre was played on 9th September, Kilwinning played Thorniewood on Saturday and that was the only game separating the reverse fixture. Bringing forward their game from January would give Blantyre 3 home games on the trot. Cambuslang – I could have brought forward the game from December but that would have given Kilwinning 4 home games on the trot and I didn’t fancy doing that with 3 important cup games coming up for Kilwinning. I did point out that if Kilwinning and either Blantyre or Cambuslang wanted to bring forward their games then I would accept it. I didn’t hear back from them. Finally, the Junior Cup has been put on a par with the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup, the Strathclyde Demolition Cup, the South Challenge Cup and the West of Scotland League Cup. All thanks to a vote by the clubs in the WoSFL.

They have 2 successive away games due to them not having a home midweek game.

Both Draws can be found here - West of Scotland Football League - News (wosfl.co.uk)

I'm not having a go at anyone on this. All of the points you made have been discussed and we continue to try and improve our level of football for the benefit of all clubs. We have a couple of initiatives on the go and some more in the pipeline. Today's administration of the WoSFL would be unrecognisable compared to the old West Region and due to certain circumstances we are able to spend more time discussing how to improve things. For instance, we now have Divisional reps who's remit is to engage with the clubs in their Division to see what can be done to help them. But the age old problem of volunteers stepping forward continues. That is the same at club level as it is at WoSFL Board level.

We can't find people to wear the blazers we already have and you want us to order more.

How do you actively encourage clubs to allow kids in free? Some clubs will see a benefit, some won't. How is it possible to change a club's opinion on it?

West of Scotland Football League - Matches (wosfl.co.uk)

My 12 year old grand-daughter forgot to show me how to upload them. I had to go wake her. Not a good idea.

I'll add your complaint and file it with all the rest.