The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Thomson: Locos put people before pounds
Inverurie Locos will prioritise people over pounds during the coronavirus shutdown.
Club secretary Billy Thomson said the postponement of all league games was expected and for them, the focus was on ensuring club personnel are looked after.
Locos are sitting second in the Highland League as it stands but were not due to play again until March 28. Their next home game was not scheduled until next month.
Thomson said: “As a football club we expected all the games to be off and it’s about taking care of players, staff and sponsors and just following guidelines. That’s where we are.
“It’s most unusual circumstances but we’re just following the lead of experts and we’ll react accordingly.
“We will sit down as a club and look at that side of things but the be-all and end-all is taking care of everyone involved in the football club, rather than looking at the financial side of things.
“We were going to be without a lot of football anyway, as we had a calendar month between home games.”
The Harlaw Park side only had four more games this season and it is not known whether the campaign will be completed.
Players trained on Thursday night but this may be looked at, with no further games planned.
Thomson added: “It’s a serious thing with a lot of different repercussions.
“We’re keeping in close contact with the Highland League secretary, who has done a fantastic job in keeping us informed as he always does.
“Players trained on Thursday night as normal but we’ll be reviewing it as we go. We’ll be tapping into experts and taking guidance.”
Locos’ last game was the 4-1 defeat to Fraserburgh eight days ago.
They had reached the Aberdeenshire Shield final this season and had games against Clach, Formartine United and Wick Academy scheduled.
They have four points over Fraserburgh but the Broch have five games in hand.
Their under-17s side had been in action on Thursday night at Harlaw Park, beating their counterparts from Formartine United 3-1.