DO YOU know anyone that plays Saturday football in Barry and the Vale? I imagine you have had the opportunity to get to know them better this winter as a ball has hardly been kicked.

We have had a very wet but mild winter, but unfortunately the Vale football league fixtures across the Vale have been obliterated due to postponement after postponement of matches.

Many coaches and players have told me that this season has been the worst for a number of years. Teams and players have become accustomed to fixtures being postponed at the Butts and the wider Vale, but this season hundreds of players have been left at home watching football rather than playing competitively.

The ground staff are clearly doing their best, but I have long campaigned for more 4G pitches to be built in Barry, Llantwit and other towns. We are still awaiting news on the proposed plans for small sided pitches at Colcot Sports Centre and they will serve a purpose, but we simply need full size pitches that can cope with rain.

The weather is something we cannot control, but if teams are barely completing a fixture during the three darkest winter months then the Vale Council should look to see how sports pitch provision can be delivered in a more effective way.

For families with children desperately keen to play on a Saturday morning, to the adult leagues – winter is the prime time to play as outdoor alternatives are limited to expend excess energy.

I am now being told that we can expect to see a desperate scramble to complete fixtures in May with three games a week. It can be incredibly difficult for many players to make 6pm midweek kick-off times, leaving managers left struggling to field a team.

As we all know, playing regular sport is about motivation and I can understand how players and managers lose interest if they are unable to play a competitive match for months at a time.

Investment by the local authority in supporting my call for more 4G full sized pitches, in addition to Jenner Park, would help find a solution to the annual problem of postponed sporting fixtures.