Johnstone Burgh to play two cup ties simultaneously after schedule clash

Published4 hours ago

Scottish fifth-tier club Johnstone Burgh have been forced to play two cup ties on the same day, with the kick-offs only half an hour apart.

They will now have to find a team to play away to Tayport in the Scottish Communities Cup third round at 14:30 GMT - and another to face hosts Dunipace 65 miles away in the Lowland League Cup first round at 15:00 - both on Saturday, 21 November.

Neither of their opponents, nor any other clubs they were scheduled to play on other weekends, were willing to shift from Saturday afternoon kick-off times.

"We have explored every possible option to find a suitable solution that would allow us to play the tie outwith a Saturday afternoon as our schedule is already full," Burgh said in a statement on X.

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"This has included attempting to rearrange league fixtures and South Challenge Cup ties, travelling to Tayport midweek, playing Tayport on a Friday night or Sunday afternoon and, most recently, offering to play the Communities Cup tie immediately before or after our upcoming Lowland League Cup fixture.

"In addition, we offered to forfeit our share of the gate money to help cover any convenience caused by the rearranging the fixture.

"Despite exhausting every option available to us, we have been unable to reach a solution that allows us to play outwith a Saturday afternoon."

Burgh, who currently sit eighth in the new Lowland League West, having been promoted from the West of Scotland League Premier Division, would have been considered favourites for both ties if able to field their strongest team.

They won the Scottish Communities Cup two seasons ago when it was the Scottish Junior Cup.

Meanwhile, Dunipace sit second bottom of the new Lowland League East and Tayport are sixth in the tier below, the Midlands Premier League.

All three clubs have already had fixtures postponed because of their progress to the second round of the Scottish Cup.

Tayport eventually lost to Stranraer and Dunipace were thrashed by Largs Thistle on Saturday as Burgh's tie at home to Highland League side Formartine United was postponed and rescheduled for this Saturday.

"We are extremely disappointed that, despite our best efforts, we have been unable to find a reasonable solution that would allow us to compete in both games with our strongest available squad," Burgh added.

"We'd like to thank Tayport and the other clubs we have spoken to for considering the options we have put to them and understand that clubs want to stay within the traditional Saturday afternoon kick-off times.

"We want to reassure our supporters that every avenue has been explored and every effort has been made to find a workable solution."

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