Scottish fifth-tier club Johnstone Burgh are set to play TWO cup ties on the same day, half an hour apart, after their opponents refused to budge on finding an alternative solution.
The Renfrewshire outfit are scheduled to face Fife side Tayport in a third-round Scottish Communities Cup – formerly the Junior Cup – tie on Saturday, November 21.
That game is set to kick-off at 2.30pm, but Burgh are also due to play at Dunipace – 65 miles away in Denny, Stirlingshire – in the first round of the Lowland League Cup just half an hour later.
Despite their best efforts to find a solution, neither of their opponents, nor any other clubs they were scheduled to play on other weekends, were prepared to shift from traditional Saturday afternoon kick-off times, leaving Johnstone to plot how best to split their personnel for the unlikely double-header.
‘We have explored every possible option to find a suitable solution that would allow us to play the tie outwith a Saturday afternoon as our schedule is already full,’ Burgh said in a statement on X.
‘This has included attempting to rearrange league fixtures and South Challenge Cup ties, travelling to Tayport midweek, playing Tayport on a Friday night or Sunday afternoon and, most recently, offering to play the Communities Cup tie immediately before or after our upcoming Lowland League Cup fixture.
Johnstone Burgh will host Tayport at Keanie Park 30 minutes before kicking off at Dunipace
‘In addition, we offered to forfeit our share of the gate money to help cover any convenience caused by the rearranging the fixture.
‘Despite exhausting every option available to us, we have been unable to reach a solution that allows us to play outwith a Saturday afternoon.’
Burgh, who boasted former Rangers and Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty among their ranks until he moved on to Forth Wanderers earlier this year, won the Scottish Communities Cup two seasons ago. They currently sit eighth in the new Lowland League West, having been promoted from the West of Scotland League Premier Division last season.
The club are already facing a fixture pile-up because of their progress to the second round of the Scottish Cup, where they are due to host Highland League side Formartine United this Saturday in a tie rescheduled following a postponement last week.
The unusual scenario follows on from West Lothian side Armadale Thistle having to play two fixtures on one day earlier this month.
The East of Scotland League side ran out 4-0 winners in a league clash against Dundonald Bluebell, with a 2.30pm kick-off, at their Volunteer Park ground then returned for a 1-0 defeat to Stonehaven – 7.45pm kick-off – in the Scottish Communities Cup.
On that occasion, East of Scotland League rules prohibited the club from rescheduling games but their opponents were willing to agree on a later kick-off.
Burgh will enter the history books but they are not the first side to face such a fixture quirk
In 2020, Orkney FC faced a near-identical situation as Johnstone Burgh – this time with a 15-minute gap between kick-off times. The North Caledonian League side travelled 165 miles to Bunilldh Thistle shortly before a second XI kicked-off a home game against Bonar Bridge.
Famously, Celtic also played two games in one day back in 1916, when the first World War disrupted the fixture list. The Parkhead side beat Raith Rovers 6-0 at home in a 3.15pm kick-off before making the short journey to Motherwell for a 6pm start and winning again, this time 3-1.
Now Johnstone Burgh will add their name to one of Scottish football’s quirkiest fixture tales.
Burgh added in the statement: ‘We are extremely disappointed that, despite our best efforts, we have been unable to find a reasonable solution that would allow us to compete in both games with our strongest available squad.
‘We’d like to thank Tayport and the other clubs we have spoken to for considering the options we have put to them and understand that clubs want to stay within the traditional Saturday afternoon kick-off times.
‘We want to reassure our supporters that every avenue has been explored and every effort has been made to find a workable solution.’
