Potential return to winter season for women's football would not be ideal for Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager Mason
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Karen Mason believes a return to winter football for Inverness Caledonian Thistle Women may be on the cards.
While men’s football had completed three quarters of their campaign before sport ground to a halt, the women’s season had just begun.
As such, the focus since has been almost entirely on how and when to restart the game.
Women’s football moved to a summer season in 2009, but a switch back may be necessary.
Lining up with the men’s season – at both professional and amateur level – would not be ideal for Mason because of the distances they would have to travel in poor conditions and competition for facilities.
“The chat seems to be that it could potentially be a return to winter football for us,” Mason said.
“Everything else has to get back to a bit more normality before football comes back for us.
“Winter football isn’t our first choice, to be fair. Being able to travel in daylight is always a bit of a bonus.
“It affects facilities as well. Not coinciding with the men’s season, there are more opportunities to get pitches to train. That has been a big benefit for us.
“They’re starting to kick off in August, and if we’re not until October we could be the last in. We’ll just have to play it by ear and see what happens.”
Having said that, there is the feeling that football in any guise would be a bonus for ICT Women after being forced to spend so long away from the game.
“Everyone is just thinking that it doesn’t matter what format it comes in, they just want to get back and play,” Mason explained.
“There has to be a reason to play though, and that comes in the form of competition.
“We hope that there’s going to be some form of promotion and relegation coming back into the leagues, but that’s all part of the discussions at the moment.
“We just have to wait and see what the eventual outcome is.”
Read the full edition of today's Inverness Courier here.
