Melton Sunday League back in business after FA call

Melton and District Sunday Football League had to suspend its fixture programme after Melton Council stopped them from using the pavilion at the Redwood Avenue pitches.

The building is set to be demolished in the coming weeks.

Delays over two replacement pitches at Melton Sports Village, offered by the borough council, left the league with just three pitches for its eight teams.

The Football Association had forbidden the league from using the Redwood Avenue pitches without changing facilities and showers, but last week relaxed the rule to allow them to complete the season.

Two of its teams – Bayern Mowbray and Melton Old Boys – have not played since November 13, but are finally due to meet this weekend.

League secretary Vinny Musson said: “I rang the County FA and explained the situation and they said as a short-term solution we are able to play without changing facilities.

“It is only for the county cup that we need them so as all of our teams down at Redwood are out of the cups, there is no problem.”

Members of the league’s committee met with Melton Council on Friday who have agreed to maintain the pitches until the replacements are ready at Burton Road.

“They are waiting for the ones at Melton Sports Village to be sorted out by the county council,” Vinny added. “Once they are handed over we can start playing on them.

“We have been told it isn’t going to be too long, but it won’t be next weekend either. One of the pitches is nearly ready, but the other needs safety work doing because the run-off is non-existent.

“We have had to jiggle the fixtures around a little bit after one of our referees retired, but we should be able to play two or three fixtures a weekend and get the season finished by May.”