CCFL action to resume next weekend after long wait

Pictured above: Monksland United celebrate their Combined Counties Cup final over Stradbally Town in 2019. Photo: Denis Byrne.

The Combined Counties Football League (CCFL) will return to action this Saturday, July 18 - as the lengthy Covid-19 enforced break comes to an end.

Among the games on the opening weekend of the restart are a Senior Division clash between Ballinahown and Monksland Utd (July 19, Ballinahown, 11am), and an U-17 Premier Division game between Willow Park and Mullingar Athletic (July 18, Gainstown, 2.30pm).

However, some teams have decided not to take part in the remainder of the CCFL season.

“Clubs were given the chance to ‘opt in’ or ‘opt out’. About 75 per cent of the teams opted in,” explained CCFL honorary secretary Chris Hand.

Chris confirmed that Willow Park’s 'B' team (last season’s Senior Division champions) and Gentex are among the teams who have opted out.

“There are a myriad of reasons why some teams opted out. Some lads couldn’t commit because of changes to working arrangements and shift patterns,” said Chris.

In addition, some of the divisional cup competitions won’t be finished this season.

“Logistically we wouldn’t be able to fit them all in. It’s disappointing for some clubs who might have felt they had a good chance of winning competitions, but it’s not possible to play them all and we don’t want to bite off more than we can chew,” said Chris.

“But we’ll be playing the Combined Counties Cup, which is our blue riband, and the Shield, and there will be cup competitions for underage teams and a Women’s Division Cup,” continued the Athlone resident.

“It’s been a long wait and it will be great for lads to get back playing football. Some clubs had done very well earlier in the season. For example, Willow Park’s under-17 team only need a point to win the title in their division.

“There will be a short break of a couple of weeks before we go straight into the new season if the virus stays repressed which is what we all hope for.”

Chris is confident that the league will have enough referees to run their remainder of their fixtures programme.

“We are working with the branches to ensure we have enough cover. Some referees have opted out but the number is commensurate with the reduction in the number of games,” he said.

Detailed guidelines have been issued to all clubs who will be expected to have Covid-19 officers in place and to follow public health regulations.

The annual CCFL awards night is usually held in early June and a decision has yet to be made on whether it will be rescheduled. Chris said there is a possibility of a “smaller scale event” later in the year and he hopes something will be organised, so that clubs can be presented with trophies and medals.

“Please God, everyone will stay well and we’ll get back to some semblance of normality,” he added.