THIS weekend’s Jersey Combination fixtures are set to proceed as scheduled, but the Jersey Football Association “would be staggered if there isn’t more disruption”.
In the immediate aftermath of Storm Ciarán, last weekend’s fixtures were postponed as the community came to terms with the damage done Island-wide.
However, despite the challenges presented to football, the JFA has worked closely with local clubs, along with the Sports & Grounds team at the Government of Jersey to ensure that all scheduled games have a safe venue to play at.
The issue at hand now is a familiar one in the winter months, with some pitches susceptible to flooding.
Jonathan Le Fondre of the JFA said: “It is devastating to see the damage caused by Storm Ciarán to our local sports facilities across the Island and football has not escaped the impact of the storm.
“The JFA will continue to monitor the progress with facilities in the coming weeks, along with providing flexible support.
“This will allow some welcome respite for the club volunteers to continue the incredible clean up and repair operations of local facilities.
“The volunteers from each of the clubs have been incredible. We have really seen the best of the community and a sense of togetherness following the storm and there has been so much tireless work to bring the clubs back to a sense of normality.”
While there is no guarantee that all the slated fixtures will take place this weekend, Le Fondre felt confident that relevant matches would be rescheduled.
“It is a waiting game to see if there are other factors that put paid to the proposed fixtures this weekend but, if that is the case, it would just be standard winter disruption due to weather.
“It’s a situation that we are monitoring, but it changes daily.
“Obviously with additional rainfall during the week and forecasted, there is a high possibility that pitches will be waterlogged heading into the weekend.
“I would be staggered if there isn’t more disruption to this block of games.
“But all of that is unfortunately out of our control. All we can do is ensure that all the games that can go ahead do so as planned.
“With some of the junior fixtures, we are having to think outside the box with how we manage them. But there is more flexibility with the younger age groups.
“We are at a point in the season whereby we have a lot of time ahead of us, so re-arranging fixtures is slightly easier at this point than perhaps it would be later in the campaign.”
