With the severe winter continuing to cause mayhem to sporting fixtures, some leagues are already taking steps to ensure that the backlog does not be-come a more serious problem.

With last weekend’s total wipe-out due to heavy snowfall, some leagues in the county are suffering, although others remain confident of completing their fixture list on time.

The FTL Futbol Hellenic League, are already taking action to avoid major problems at the end of the season.

The management committee have taken the unusual step of abandoning their Supplementary Cup competition for this season.

With all ties in the first round being postponed for a second time on Saturday, the decision was reached to cancel it for the year.

General manager Brian King explained: “We have had to take similar steps in the past due to heavy rain, but not because of snow.

“The decision wasn’t taken lightly, but it is aimed at giving us a little more flexibility to fit the league programme in, which remains the priority.

“The league season has to be finished by the first full weekend in May, because decisions on promotions in the National League System are made the following week.

“There are no plans to extend the league season, and it is still scheduled to finish on April 25.”

Jane Kenny, fixture secretary of the Oxfordshire Senior League, said: “It’s not looking too bad at the moment. The season won’t finish as early as we had planned.

“There are a couple of division who are right on track, but there is a slight backlog in the bottom division.

“Because we have an extra division, our backlog is not worse than other seasons.”

Tom Brewer, fixture secretary for the North Berks League, says that fitting in the re-scheduled cup games is the only major issue.

He said: “Hopefully if the weather improves for this weekend, we won’t have a big problem.

“Some clubs are behind, especially those still involved in cups, and there will be a need for midweek games.

“We will also have cup semi-finals to factor in, so I’m praying for some better weather.

“It’s one of the worst seasons I’ve known, but I’m still hopeful of getting everything complete by May 11.”

In the Witney & District FA, the problems seem to be a little worse than other leagues.

But secretary John Smyth remains hopeful that they can overcome the backlog.

He said: “We are slightly worried, because if the weather continues to be bad, it could cause problems.

“We have lost two complete Saturdays, and two others where only a handful of games were played.

“However, most clubs, particularly in the three lower divisions are well up with their fixtures, but there is concern for some of our leading clubs, especially those who have done well in cup competitions.

“At the moment, we have 12 scheduled Saturdays left, and we can stretch this to 13 if necessary.

“But many clubs have agreements in place to be off their pitches by the end of April because of cricket.”

In the Banbury District & Lord Jersey FA, fixture secretary Derek Hirons said: “We are not looking too bad at the moment, providing the weather plays fair for the rest of the season.

“Some of our cup competitions may be played midweek if we get continued bad weather, but we have been here before and always coped.

“Our contingency plans are based on supplementary schemes to generate more fixtures when we are running out several weeks from the end of the season.”

The Autotype UTV Sunday League face similar problems.

Their chairman Bill McKnight said: “Being a Sunday morning league, we also have more than our fair share of frozen pitches, even when they are in good shape later in the day.

“At the moment, we still plan to finish games by the end of April, but the problem is the more successful teams, who have done well in cups, have more of a backlog than others.

“It is going to mean some midweek games, and some teams may end up playing three times a week!”