Stenhousemuir boss Ferguson blasts winter fixture shambles

The Warriors manager says it’s ludicrous to reschedule called off matches for January and February and that they should be played later in the season.

Stenny were left without a match on Tuesday night when their game with Cowdenbeath was called off, despite earlier expectations that it would go ahead.

And while Ferguson had no issue with that decision, he feels the club should not have been forced to plan the game in the first place.

He said: “When I got to the ground at four o’clock there was a local school final going on and there wasn’t any snow anywhere.

“About half an hour later it came down quite quick and there was probably about half an inch on the pitch, and then it stopped.

“At that point we felt the game would have been fine to play, to try and clear the pitch, but the referee got there about half five and called the game off because he didn’t want to take any chances with the weather forecast and wanted to make an early call on it.

“I think the decision to play the game or not was a 50-50 one and you can’t blame the referee. He’s made a call on his best judgement at that moment in time and people could argue for and against.

“But for me the big issue is why we’re trying to rearrange games that have been called off for January and February.

“I just feel as though, from a league’s perspective it’s absolutely ludicrous that games are actually attempted to be played at this time of the year.

“We’re part-time players, because we’re trying to prepare for a game they’re taking half days off their work.

“Games can get called off at any time of year, I get that. But why they persist in actually asking us to play rearranged games in the winter months when you’re part-time and the weather is what it is, and the chances of games getting called off are so much better than they would be in March or April, I just find it completely and utterly ludicrous.

“We can’t get away from games being called off on a Saturday.

“But we’ve got another game on Tuesday night down at Berwick and the likelihood is this game is going to be called off.

“I don’t know the rules or what thought processes go through whoever’s involved in the fixtures but none of it makes sense.”