Carlisle’s City Sunday Football League will not be completed this season, its secretary has said.

Catastrophic winter flood damage means that for the first time since the senior league was founded, in 1963, some games look set to be left unplayed.

Officials are battling to squeeze in as many matches between now and the scheduled end of the campaign in May.

It is hoped that the top two sides in each of the four divisions will be far enough ahead for champions and runners-up trophies and medals to be handed out.

But with flood-hit pitches used by 15 of the league’s 41 teams ruled out of action indefinitely, secretary Jack Williamson has concluded: “We won’t finish.”

He said: “I have been secretary for 30 years and this is the worst I have ever known it. We have had flood damage before but the pitches have recovered.

“But this time there is to be no hope for the rest of this season. We finish at the end of May and start again in August.

“We could apply for an extension but I don’t see the point. It will be just chaos. It cannot get any better.”

Williamson confirmed that six pitches at the Carlisle’s Sheepmount venue are out of action. No play is possible at either Rickerby Park in the city or at Downagate, Warwick Bridge.

Both the City Sunday league cup and Harrison Trophy competitions have been scrapped as officials desperately try to find space in which to shoehorn matches.

Homeless teams have agreed to switch home matches to their opponents’ grounds. However, the fixture headaches are persisting for the volunteers who run the league.

Indeed some sides still have up to half their matches to play.

“It is just a complete problem,” said Mr Williamson, whose task is not only to arrange fixtures but also appoint match officials.

“At the moment it is taking up all my time. I have got a good committee but there is nothing we can do at the moment.


Jack Williamson “My biggest worry is that we have got teams applying to join the league, which is going to make matters worse. We don’t even know if we are going to have these pitches for next season.”

Williamson conceded: “At the moment it is a full-time job. I am even lying in bed at night thinking about fixtures!”

Care is being taken to avoid clashes with matches in the Longhorn Youth League.

And rearrangements are made even harder by the fact that some Sunday league players also turn out for Saturday sides who now have end-of-season midweek commitments.

“We won’t finish. We are all pulling together and trying to get finished - but I honestly can’t see us finishing,” added Mr Williamson.

There are even fears that some pitches may still be out of action by the time next season starts in August.

He confirmed that officials will sit down at the league’s annual meeting in June to discuss the longer term plan.

Poor weather has also left its mark elsewhere.

The full fixture programme is expected to be completed in the Saturday senior Westmorland League.

However, Ron Wilkinson, secretary for almost three decades, said of the disruption: “It has been as bad as it has ever been.”

Some teams are ground-sharing after because of water-damaged pitches. Another, Carlisle-based Pirelli, have played only 14 of their 28 league fixtures and must also fit in a cup final.

“I have never known it as wet as it has been,” said Wilkinson, who confirmed the season would run well into next month.

The same is true in the 2015-16 Penrith and District Junior League. That campaign is set to conclude on May 15 – the latest on record.

Fixture secretary Peter Renwick stated: “In all my years being involved with junior football, this has got to go down as one of the most difficult seasons as far as the organising of games is concerned.

“Due to the superb facilities at Frenchfield (Sports Centre), the Penrith-based teams haven’t fared too badly.

“However, the teams in our league from Cockermouth, Keswick, Carlisle and Langwathby have had a torrid time.”