David Gormley has hit out at the rescheduling of Kilwinning Rangers' league clash against Auchinleck Talbot - claiming it will leave The Buffs thousands of pounds out of pocket.
The West of Scotland Premier Division rivals are set meet at Buffs Park tomorrow night after the game was brought forward from Saturday, November 19.
But Kilwinning boss Gormley says the fixture change is bad news his club's coffers - as well as the profile of the league.
He said: "It's a sucker punch to be honest with you
"We had hospitality sold out for the original November 19 date and we've lost all that now with the change.
"That's 50 people at £50 a head - £2500 - that the club now won't recoup.
"On top of that, the rescheduled game is on the same night Rangers play Hearts. It's no secret Kilwinning has a big Rangers support so we're maybe going to lose 100- 150 people on the gate too.
"We asked the league if they would consider rescheduling again - even playing 24 hours earlier when other Premier games are on - but we were told that wasn't possible.
"I just don't understand why they couldn't have done that or even pushed it back a few Wednesdays when the World Cup is on.
"The big domestic leagues will be off and people will be looking to get out for their football fix. I'm quite sure there would be a fair few fans who would like to get out and watch Kilwinning take on Talbot rather than sit and home in front of Ecuador v Qatar or whatever.
"For me, scheduling a Kilwinning Talbot game in midweek is a mistake and a missed opportunity for the league . It should be a high profile fixture."
West of Scotland League fixture secretary Kennie Young today defended the match scheduling, saying a backlog of postponed matches means his hands are tied to an extent.
He said: "The South Challenge Cup takes precedence over league fixtures and November 19 became the date for the next round. Kilwinning and Auchinleck are still involved in the competition which is why their league game had to be postponed.
"We already have a backlog of postponed fixtures in the Premier Division and we only have so many free Saturdays on the calendar.
"We try to keep the Premier Division as balanced as possible in terms of games played and Wednesday nights are the default for midweek fixtures.
"That said, if two clubs agree they can play on another midweek night we will do our best to accommodate them. That has been the case this week with both Irvine Meadow and Rob Roy coming to an agreement to play on Tuesday night, which the league approved."
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