Fixture pile-up a cause for 'concern' for Infinity boss Danny Thompson

Infinity boss Danny Thompson is already ‘very concerned’ about a potential fixture pile-up that could derail his side's Hampshire Premier League title ambition.
Action from Infinity's clash against Paulsgrove. Picture: Ian Hargreaves  (301119-7)Action from Infinity's clash against Paulsgrove. Picture: Ian Hargreaves  (301119-7)
Action from Infinity's clash against Paulsgrove. Picture: Ian Hargreaves (301119-7)

Infinity have only played 13 of their 30 Senior Division matches this season - the joint-fewest of any clubs in the division along with Sway.

They are also still in three cups - the Hampshire Trophy, the HPL Cup and the Southampton Intermediate Cup.

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That would mean a further 10 games if Infinity were to reach all three finals.

Put another way, that’s a possible 27 games left in 2019/20 - and only 20 Saturdays on which to play them (21 if you include December 28).

And that, of course, is without any more games being called off due to bad weather - historically an unlikely occurrence.

The seemingly incessant rain that battered the region in October and November has contributed to the headaches, with December, January and February traditionally the worst time for local football postponements.

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With all that in mind, Thompson was unhappy Tuesday’s HPL trip to rock-bottom Liss was called off with the host club claiming part of their pitch was frozen.

‘I know this is only the Hampshire League, but surely you can’t have club officials calling games off?’ he asked.

‘Surely Liss could have got a qualified referee to come over for 10 minutes to see whether he deemed it playable or not?

‘If a qualified referee had called it off, fair enough.’

Thompson added: ‘Infinity had the same problem last season, they had to play loads of games in a short space of time.

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‘I’ve got a good squad of 18/19 players but you still don’t want to be playing Saturday Tuesday, Thursday in April.

‘The situation is not ideal.

‘The Hampshire League have asked if any team wants a fixture on December 28 and I’ve said 100 per cent, yes.’

Last season Infinity played just one HPL match in December and January combined, ensuring a late-season congestion which saw them play on March 20 and then eight games between April 2-27 inclusive.

Withdrawing from cup competitions is not the answer either.

‘Our main priority is winning the league,’ Thompson said.

'But I want to win every game we play - junior cups, senior cups, all of them.

‘I know the cups could hinder what we want to do this season, but it’s something we’ll have to deal with.’

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