Following a vote of all the 67 clubs in the West of Scotland Football League, the clubs have decided that the league should restart on Saturday 24th October.
Despite current restrictions not allowing supporters in the ground, or the use of dressing rooms & showers, 36 clubs out-voted 31 to trigger the start of the season in less than two weeks time with the start of the SoccerShop Challenge Cup first round.
But in a bit of a twist, member clubs were given the opportunity to withdraw from this season’s competition without penalty, if they felt they needed to protect their club’s future – and as a result, the new WOSFL will be missing some big names for the upcoming season.
Therefore, the league has decided that there will be no promotion or relegation between the leagues for the upcoming season to allow the missing clubs the opportunity to return next term at the same level as they would have this, without penalty.
The Vote in detail
Total Votes – 67 Clubs.
Question 1
Under the current restrictions, does your club wish to commence playing on 24th October?
Yes, we want to start on Saturday 24th October – 36
No, we do not wish to start on Saturday 24th October – 31
Question 2
Irrelevant due to result of Question 1 (related to a continued pause of season)
Question 3
If the result of the ballot on Question 1 is that we should commence playing on 24th October, does your club wish to withdraw from this season’s league competition?
Yes, we wish to withdraw – 14
No, we will compete in the league – 53
The WOSFL Interim Management Group requested written confirmation from the 14 Clubs who indicated that they did not wish to participate in this season’s league competition, which they are able to do without penalty. With a deadline of today at 5pm now passed, five of those teams have now decided to compete, although nine are now confirmed as having withdrawn.
The 13 clubs that have withdrawn from the league for this season are:
- Auchinleck Talbot
- Cumnock
- Glenafton Athletic
- Kilbirnie Ladeside
- Pollok
- Ardrossan Winton Rovers
- Arthurlie
- Cambuslang Rangers
- Girvan
- Petershill
- Saltcoats Victoria
- Shotts Bon Accord
- Whitletts Victoria
We can only imagine what these clubs must feel to withdraw from football when it is so important to all of us, but in these truly unprecedented times of a global pandemic and an economic crisis we’d like to applaud these committees for what was a brave decision, and hope to see them all back in the league next year.
How all of this will affect the format of the league, time will tell. We plan for a restart a week on Saturday with a home game against Beith unless told otherwise. Our fixtures for the season ahead are on the Fixtures & Results 2020/21 page.
We would like to thank all of our committee, coaching staff, players & loyal supporters for their assistance in what is easily the strangest pre-season we have ever experienced. There is still a long, hard road ahead of all of us, but we hope that with the return of football, the return of our supporters & our facilities will not be far behind.