James Beaston is banned from the Long Eaton trip
Glasshoughton Welfare boss Rob Hunter has hit out at the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division fixture list, writes James Grayson.
Glasshoughton make the 68-mile trip to Long Eaton United tomorrow night – the furthest south team in the league – with a threadbare squad.
James Beaston begins his three-match ban for violent conduct, while Dave Ward and Joel Freeston remain long-term absentees and miss Welfare’s last scheduled midweek game.
Hunter’s main criticism centres on that fact that Glasshoughton have had a midweek fixture for all but one week since August and even had one abandoned for floodlight failure – at Brighouse Town in August.
And he is unhappy that the match at Long Eaton has been put down for a Wednesday night.
“There are a couple of people I can bring in for Wednesday night so we go there with a full squad,” he said.
“It’s the last midweek game for four or five weeks and we have played almost every Tuesday or Wednesday night since the season started and it takes its toll. Everyone was saying this when they were trying to make it a 24-team league.
“The amount of midweek fixtures we have to play at this level is ridiculous. We’ve only trained twice since pre-season because we have played in midweek every week.
“I mean Wednesday night, how does the league allow you to play against Garforth who are five miles away on a Saturday and then make you travel to Long Eaton on a Wednesday night?
“Every-time we play Long Eaton or Retford away, it seems to be on a Tuesday or Wednesday. The longest fixtures always seem to be midweek.
“(Looking ahead to next season) they are not going to go back to 20, I think they have made the decision that it is going to be a big league.
“What they have to work out is making sure that the midweek fixtures are between teams which are a certain radius from each other and to give a chance for teams and supporters to turn up.
“We can’t continue to be travelling 100 miles-plus on a midweek night. At Long Eaton, there’ll be no-one watching and I think from us there will be the chairman and secretary.”