RENFREW manager Colin Clark has slammed the West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) for failing to regionalise its revamped conferences.

The previous league set-up that was established in May has been scrapped after a number of clubs withdrew when it was announced the 2020/21 campaign would begin without fans being allowed into matches and with players banned from using changing facilities.

Clubs that withdrew were told they would not be punished for doing so, with promotion and relegation off the table for the coming season.

Now the WoSFL conferences have been redrawn, with the remaining teams grouped together according to their final placings in last season’s Junior league tables.

Renfrew have been put in Conference A, alongside the likes of St Roch’s, Lesmahagow, Maryhill and Maybole.

However, Clark believes geography should have been considered when deciding the new conferences, to help teams avoid long trips during the Covid pandemic.

He told Gazette Sport: “We were under the impression that, when they did have to reconstruct again, common sense would prevail and they would regionalise it.

“There are enough Ayrshire teams to have an Ayrshire league this season and enough for Central and Lanarkshire leagues as well before starting again next season with what they originally had planned.

“It’s a bit disappointing they’ve went down that road. For me, it’s a really silly decision.

“We’ve got 80-mile round trips to make and boys can’t get a shower after the game in the middle of winter. If we have to get changed in the car, then keep us local.”

As things stand, Renfrew are due to get their season underway this Saturday against Bellshill Athletic at Rockburn Park.

Kennie Young, secretary of the WoSFL Interim Management Group, said the same formula that was used when the original conferences were drawn up has been applied again to establish the new set-up.

He added: “We believe this option best suits the needs of the clubs, in that it retains as much as possible the original configuration and maintains a competitive edge and has a balance in strength across all three leagues.”