Club Statement – Saturday 25th March Fixture versus Dumbarton

Stirling Albion are scheduled to play Dumbarton at 3pm on Saturday 25^th March and Scotland are scheduled to play a home match against Cyprus in a UEFA European Championship qualifying fixture the same afternoon. This highly unfortunate clash arose because the draw by UEFA for the European Championships meant Scotland had to play a game on that Saturday at home. The draw could have been that Scotland would play on the preceding Thursday or Friday but the draw fell for the game to be on the Saturday at 2pm. The SPFL fixtures were set long before the draw for the UEFA European Championships took place.

We are aware there have been calls from some fans to move our game. Unfortunately it will not be possible to do so.

Firstly, and most importantly, the manager, the management team and the players do not want the game moved from the scheduled date and time. It is important to them to maintain the rhythm and regularity of playing on a Saturday afternoon. For part time players, playing on a midweek evening is more challenging and we already have a number of midweek games coming up due to re-arranged fixtures.

Secondly, we don’t have any suitable options for moving the game. There are only two realistic alternatives – playing on either the Friday night or the Sunday. Playing on the Friday night is not possible for us because, unlike our opponents, we have a game only three days before on the Tuesday night following a game the preceding Saturday. Playing again on the Friday affects game preparation, reduces recovery time and puts undue pressure on the players physically – it would not give the team the best chance of performing and the manager and players unequivocally do not support it. Playing on the Sunday is also not an acceptable option for the team and, additionally, we would face a significant operational risk of not being able to put the game on.

We are not alone in this decision: only one of the other League 2 fixtures has been moved; all the rest remain at 3pm on the Saturday.

This is a highly unfortunate situation, not of our making, and one we have looked at very closely. We are aware this decision will be disappointing to some fans but we hope you understand the reasons for the decision which have been taken in the best interests of our team and club.

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