Unreliable ferry service behind Isle of Arran AFC folding
Former manager Sean Higgins says players were put off by multiple cancelations and disruptions
Last updated 24th Oct 2022
Isle of Arran AFC bosses are insisting the club would still exist if they didn’t have a ferry service that is ‘killing the island’.
Last week the club announced they were folding after it became apparent they wouldn’t be able to field a team for future games.
Members of the club said it was the last thing they thought they would be doing only four years after they first started the club which was the first amateur club from the island to play in a mainland league.
Ferry cancellations put players off
However, former manager and committee member of Isle of Arran AFC has now elaborated on why they could no longer field a team.
He exclusively told West FM players no longer could commit to the team due to the amount of ferry cancellations and disruptions they have faced the last four years.
He said: “With the uncertainty of boats sailing and cancelling at short notice, a lot of the time we wouldn’t know if we were getting home from playing away games.
“A lot of our players were travelling to play the games and didn’t know if they would be able to make it home that night or for work in the morning, so the uncertainty put a lot of our players off.”
Just last month, the Scottish Government was accused of "letting island communities suffer" after figures showed that 7,431 sailings were cancelled across the country between January and July this year.
As a result, it was the final nail in the coffin for the amateur club as Sean told West FM cancelling games was becoming a bit of a habit as well as it taking its toll on the players both financially, physically and mentally.
"The Island is slowly being killed"
He added: “Games were being cancelled because the ferry wasn’t running at all, and that would have its knock-on effects.
“We would have to reschedule for mid-week fixtures, and players would have to pay for extra food or accommodation.
“There’s just been two incidents to just pinpoint one because it happened multiple times, but there was one time we were stuck on the mainland from Sunday to Tuesday.
“Our boys could end up missing several days of work and pay.”
“I think the team would still be going if we had a reliable ferry service, the boys could actually commit to the club with the knowledge of being able to play a game on the mainland and get back home on the same day.
“I can see the island is slowly being killed, with diminishing tourism due to unreliable services, I can see more and more cancellations of holiday bookings and less people coming over.”