The venue for this season's Solly Sports Heavy Woollen Cup final on Sunday, August 5 has been switched to Hanging Heaton.

The decision to move the clash between Wickersley and Wrenthorpe was taken after the latest of a series of inspections of the Liversedge ground today.

Competition president Dave Sharp said: "Regrettably the Liversedge ground has taken a lot of punishment from the recent extreme wet weather and they have been unable to play there for a number of weeks.

"Having spoken with Liversedge officials and seen the conditions first hand we realise that the problem is one which makes it extremely unlikely, especially with a far from encouraging weather forecast, that the problem area at the Roberttown Lane end of the ground would be resolved for August 5.

"With player safety a major concern, plus real worries about accessibility of cars to park around the ground as they have done in past years, a decision had to be taken so that a replacement ground could be got ready for the final.

"Both Wrenthorpe and Wickersley were consulted and they indicated that it was their desire that the final went ahead on August 5. Having inspected Liversedge and Spen Victoria, the two grounds that have staged the Heavy Woollen and Crowther Cup finals in recent seasons, it was ruled that neither was fit to stage the final on the set date.

"Other clubs offered their grounds after learning of the problems being experienced by Liversedge, and it was agreed that Hanging Heaton should be the venue for this year's Heavy Woollen Cup final.

"The two finalists also expressed their desire for an earlier start at noon to provide them with a greater opportunity of completing the tie on the day as both have crowded fixture programmes. A reserve date of August 19 was also agreed if no play is possible on August 5.

"We thank Hanging Heaton for stepping in at such short notice and wish to place on record our thanks to the Liversedge clubs for the excellent job they have made of staging the final in past season. This wasn't an easy decision to make but the Heavy Woollen Cup final is a showpiece event and decisive action needed to be taken."