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Decision to be made tomorrow on future of Forres Mechanics' pre-season


By Jonathan Clark

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A DECISION will be made tomorrow on whether Forres Mechanics will continue with their pre-season preparations in light of the Highland League’s delayed start.

At a meeting of the Highland League’s management committee last Monday, clubs agreed to pause the forthcoming campaign, which was due to start on October 17, until at least November 28 due to fans not being allowed back into grounds.

That has left Mechanics needing to decide between continuing with pre-season until the new start date or breaking up again for another few weeks.

That decision will be made tomorrow night at a board meeting.

Manager Charlie Rowley and his Forres Mechanics players returned to training at the start of September ahead of this season's Highland League campaign. Picture: Daniel Forsyth
Manager Charlie Rowley and his Forres Mechanics players returned to training at the start of September ahead of this season's Highland League campaign. Picture: Daniel Forsyth

Manager Charlie Rowley is hopeful the club can continue their preparations, despite the delay.

He said: “My decision would be to either play a match or train once a week at the moment.

“There is a board meeting on tonight where I might be told otherwise and I still have to speak to the players.

“But my intention is to still meet once a week – probably on a midweek for training or at the weekend for a game.”

Rowley added that he hopes a concrete decision on the future of the league is made soon.

“Everybody is understanding of the decision to delay the league and disappointed by it at the same time,” he said.

“It’s a bit of a mess pushing the league back on a six-weekly basis. For everybody’s peace of mind and to save the uncertainty I would rather make a decision now.”

The main reason for the league’s delay is because fans can’t get back in. However, Rowley sees no reason to keep fans out.

Cans manager Charlie Rowley. Picture: Daniel Forsyth
Cans manager Charlie Rowley. Picture: Daniel Forsyth

He added: “If there are going to be fans at games then our level is going to be easiest with social distancing.

“There are not exactly thousands of fans piling into Highland League games so it should be easy to administer protocols.”

While a decision is due to be made at tomorrow’s board meeting on the future of the club’s pre-season, Mechanics face Forres Thistle tonight in a friendly match which was originally due to take place on Saturday but was postponed due to the weather.

Forres Thistle themselves are continuing with pre-season, having lost 7-2 to Lossiemouth last week.

There is currently no information on when the junior season will start.

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