Ulster Senior League for summer soccer?
From Monday's Donegal News
Quote:
Summer soccer on the cards for USL
By Chris McNulty
The Ulster Senior League could be set for a switch to summer soccer with a meeting to discuss the possibility of the switch taking place this coming Wednesday night in the Mount Errigal Hotel.
While the move is unlikely to be voted on until the League’s AGM in June, clubs will get a chance to air their views on the pros and cons of the viability of moving their season to the summer months.
League Secretary, Dessie Kelly, explained that the idea was being put to the clubs as a result of the amount of games being called off due to the terrible winters being experienced.
“In over 20years involved in administering football in Donegal, I have never seen as bad a winter as this one. The trouble with us in the Ulster Senior League is that with 26 games to play there is no room for manoeuvre.
“We know that it would be a big undertaking, but if you look at the winters we’ve been having over the last couple of years it’s been a nightmare. I mean, up until two weeks ago every Sunday was iffy.
“It’s okay for teams with good pitches that can play in all weathers, but not every team has a good pitch,” commented Dessie Kelly, who was keen to point out that Wednesday night’s gathering was merely a discussion forum on the topic and that no definite decision would be taken until a later date,
“There’s no-one going to push this on anyone. At the end of the day, it is up to the clubs. After Wednesday, they will go back to their own people and will come back to us then with the definite decision,” he said.
After Wednesday night’s meeting, club delegates will report back to their own clubs and a decision on the move is expected to take place at the AGM. Should the clubs rule in favour of the move then a transition season would have to be run in order to facilitate the switch.
“If the clubs were in favour then we’d probably have to run a one-way league programme from August to November to get it finished and you’d then start the league programme in March, running through to November,” said Dessie Kelly.
FAI Ford Cup
Meanwhile, the two Ulster Senior League representatives in the First Round of the FAI Ford Cup have been handed difficult draws for their opening round games although both have been given home advantage,
Kildrum Tigers, who reached the semi-final of this year’s Intermediate Cup - losing narrowly to Avondale United - will play host to Dublin based side Malahide United at Station Road.
Malahide came to Donegal last year and defeated Fanad United at this stage of the competition after a draw in Dublin so they will be no strangers to the North West.
Fanad, meanwhile, will welcome this year’s Intermediate finalists, and another Dublin side, Bangor Celtic to Triagh-A-Locha for what will another difficult test.
Should the Donegal sides progress, they would go into the hat for the Second Round, which also includes the eircom League teams.
The first round fixtures will be played on the week ending Sunday April 22nd.
