SPARE A THOUGHT...

The football season has kicked off already - league fixtures have begun in Scotland`s Highland League and last Saturday saw two of the teams I follow in action.   Brechin City, having just been relegated to the Highland League, began their campaign with an encouraging 3-0 win away at Turriff United whilst Fort William began their season by losing 3-0 away at Rothes.

Ah, Fort William - The Fort - perennial strugglers in the league and with mounting problems behind the scenes.   Their latest setback means they will have to play all of their league and cup games away from home this season.   The condition of Claggan Park, their home ground, has been a problem for some time and although work was put in hand to improve the drainage, it seems even more work was needed.   The situation was not helped by the council owned ground also being used for trial bikes, some extreme vandalism occurred wrecking the sprinkler system along with damage to their tractor.  This meant that the remedial work would not be finalised in time and so the club were unable to guarantee fulfilling their early season home games.

The Highland League and other clubs in the league have been as accommodating as possible in giving The Fort the option of either taking a year out to put things right or playing their fixtures away from home.  The club chose the second option and have been encouraged by the generosity from each of the other clubs in the league offering to pass on to Fort William the travel costs they would have incurred by visiting Claggan Park - a real example of clubs rallying round.  They have also launched a crowd funding page on their Facebook page, encouraging supporters and other followers to donate.

Some of the journeys up and down the Scottish Highlands are of course lengthy and at times difficult - the trip to play Wick Academy, for example, involves about a 400-mile round trip from Fort William - a journey they will now have to make at least twice.

At the other end of the football pyramid, it`s rumoured that Harry Kane will be offered £400,000 a week to turn out for Manchester City, which simply reinforces the madness of all that.   It might be more rewarding to follow the travails of The Fort this season.

CMON THE FORT!!