Skelmersdale United to make official complaint to Liverpool County FA after postponement of Liverpool Senior Cup clash against Burscough

Oct 4 2012 by Philip Kirkbride, Skelmersdale Advertiser

SKELMERSDALE UNITED will lodge an official complaint with the Liverpool County FA following the postponement of their Senior Cup tie with Burscough.

Manager Tommy Lawson confirmed that the club intend to make their feelings known after Tuesday’s game at Victoria Park was called off, despite it being said that both clubs were happy for the fixture to go ahead.

The first round game was rescheduled for last night but Lawson remains angry the match has been forced back 24 hours.

And the Skem manager is not just disappointed for his club but also for the costs Burscough incurred in preparing to host the game and insists if the match official had given ground-staff just 30 minutes to try and remove any standing water from the pitch, then there would have been no reason to call the game off.

The postponement has only served to increase Lawson’s frustrations with the Senior Cup.

“It wasn’t the right decision,” said Lawson.

“It was absolutely disgraceful.

“This used to be a prestigious cup but a number of incidents over years, including playing finals the following season, have changed that for me and the competition has lost a lot of its credibility over the years.

“Liverpool have decided not to enter the competition this season but we are not in a position to do that.

“Both managers, both sets of players and both sets of club officials wanted the game on and felt the pitch was playable.

“At the time of the game being called off, we had a heavy downpour and there was water sitting in two or three places but everyone knows that Victoria Park is one of the best pitches for drainage in our league.

“We felt that if the referee had given the pitch and groundstaff half an hour then the water would have subsided. Instead, an hour and a half before kick-off, the game was called off.

“And apart from one or two of our players, this was not a game where people had been forced to travel miles and miles to get here so he could have given it time.”

Lawson added: “Burscough have also incurred costs because of it. All the hospitality and catering they had prepared, as well as the use of the lights, has gone to waste.

“They have incurred unnecessary expenditure.

“My take on the decision on Tuesday night was that an awful lot of people thought it was wrong and only one person thought it was right.”

Skem return to Evo-Stik First Division North action on Saturday with a trip to Bamber Bridge but Lawson admits the game remains “in the lap of the gods” given the ease with which he says the Irongate pitch floods.