Amateur League supremo Terry Pateman has confirmed the Clarence Cup will not take place this season.
Typically by this stage of the campaign, teams would be contesting the second or third rounds of the flagship NAFL knockout competition, but the decision was taken last month in view of the impact of Omicron, and in the interests of the integrity of the competitions, not to proceed.
“No, the Clarence Cup, the Walter Moore and the Templeton cups will not be played this year,” Pateman told Match on Tuesday.
“We were getting badly hit by Covid in December, teams were struggling, putting second teams out for first team games, just trying to get games played which we appreciate.
“With the prospect of going into February and early March in the same situation, we thought it best and fairer on the clubs just to get on with the league programme.
“Some will finish early, some won’t, we have some clubs who have only played nine league games in comparison to others who have played 15.
“So it’s one of those where the committee thought let’s call it a day and try to be fair to clubs on all aspects.”
All being well, Pateman confirmed that normal service would resume next season.
