One Canberra NPLW side will have four days to recover and prepare for the grand final, as Capital Football faces another finals gridlock due to the National Youth Championships.
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Canberra Croatia FC and Belconnen United are set to face off in their preliminary final next Tuesday night, but neither side is happy about it.
It's understood Croatia were informed this week of the weekend fixture's move to September 27, but are not happy about a four-day turnaround for the grand final.
And Belconnen feel it could have been avoided, as they flagged the representative issue with the peak body weeks ago.
United coach Scott Conlon said his side got the raw end of the deal in last week's NPLW semi-final, and did not want to do it again.
"We knew we were in third place weeks before the last round game. So we contacted Capital Football maybe three weeks before the final game and said, 'We're going to be heavily impacted with seven players [out]'," he said.
"We gave suggestions, we had a whole excel spread sheet laying out options. All we're doing as a club is saying, can you give us a chance because we've got no players?
"We didn't complain about the four-day turnaround for the grand final because we just want to have a team on the field that closely resembles what we had through the year."
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Belconnen had to bring in younger players during their 3-1 win over West Canberra Wanderers on Saturday, and that is why the side wants their preliminary final date to be locked in for Tuesday.
It comes after the youth championships created issues for the NPLW reserve finals this week, with Canberra United Academy and the Wanderers facing the possibility of three finals in six days.
Alterations to a fixture are allowed if three players are engaged in representative duties, but the club must notify the body 14 days before, and it must be changed seven days prior to the original game day.
It was announced in June the youth nationals would take place on September 19-23, before ACT teams were announced August 8.
Capital Football chief executive Chris Gardiner said it was the same issue effecting both first and reserve grade.
"The late start to the season has created immense problems, landing finals at the time of the NYC," he said.
"Clubs are all wanting games moved and regulations enforced when in their favour. The competitions team is doing its best to juggle club demands within regulatory and schedule constraints."
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Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
