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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Andy McGilvray

Blantyre Victoria boss John Gibson calls for season to be scrapped if further delays are announced

Blantyre Vics boss John Gibson says the season should be scrapped if it’s delayed any further.

Gibson would love for the West of Scotland League to get back underway and for his side to be riding high in the Premier Division again.

But he says if they’re realistically talking about football starting back up in April or later, they should just pull the plug.

Manager John Gibson with his Blantyre Victoria squad (Blake Welsh)

He said: “I think if there’s a further extension going into the middle of March, by the time they get back it’s going to be mid-April and scrapping it is probably the best thing to do.

“I can’t see them putting it back after that, that would just be silly. It’s unfair on the clubs who are trying to get their houses in order for the licensing, but what can you do?

“We’re at the mercy of what is going to happen with Covid and the Scottish Government, which is unfortunate.

“In an ideal world I would love to have gone through the season playing and getting everything finished, but it’s not an ideal world, everything’s up in the air.”

Gibson added: “We’re just going to have to wait and see what’s happening. It’s extended to the middle of February and they’re talking about it being March before we get back, but I’m not too sure it will start back.

Vics boss John Gibson hopes to see his side in action on Saturday (Roberto Cavieres)

“I know they’re saying they’ll try to get 50 per cent of the games played, which is fine by me, but that would mean playing 13 games or something.

“If they do start back I’d try to get as many games in as possible, even if it’s more than half of them, but there’s not much we can do, we’re at the will of the Scottish Government and the league.

“I’m not going to put any emphasis on when or if we’re going to get back, I’m just going to wait and see.

“Players will need two or three weeks to get back up to speed, because that’s six or eight weeks since anybody’s done anything.”

Ian Maxwell and Rod Petrie will play in an instrumental role in football's return (SNS Group / SFA)

Even if football does return soon, Gibson fears we might need to live with restrictions longer than people think.

He added: “Somewhere along the line I hope things are going to be positive, and I would like for us to get back at some stage, but you never know with the new variant coming along.

“They have vaccines now, but they’re telling you to forget about summer holidays.”

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