YORK City manager Martin Foyle is calling on the Conference to extend the league season after seeing another match fall foul of the weather.

This weekend’s FA Trophy clash at Newport County became the latest fixture to be claimed by the big freeze, leaving the Minstermen and their fellow Blue Square Premier rivals facing an even more intimidating fixture pile-up than is customary in the highest echelon of non-League football.

The end of the Conference season is currently set for April 24 even though the Football League concludes a week later and the Premier League a fortnight afterwards despite this summer’s World Cup.

After last season’s FA Trophy final appearance contributed to the Minstermen completing their battle against relegation with four games in eight days, Foyle also feels it is unfair that similar progress in this year’s competition could hinder the club’s promotion bid.

City have already had to rearrange their league trip to Histon due to a clash with the Trophy and future home games against Salisbury (January 30), Luton (February 20) and Wimbledon (March 20) are under threat for the same reason, as well as the March 13 visit to Kidderminster.

Like the Minstermen, Salisbury, Wimbledon and Kidderminster are still in the competition at the second round stage.

Postponements because of the weather and the Minstermen’s FA Cup run also mean today’s scheduled trip to Newport, along with league clashes at Grays, Altrincham and Mansfield, will now be played in midweek instead of at weekends or on bank holidays.

A frustrated Foyle said: “I’m a bit fed up with the number of midweek away games we are going to have to play and, whether you are going for promotion or relegation, you shouldn’t be playing all those games at the end of the season like we had to do last March and April.

“It’s absolutely embarrassing really, especially when clubs are told to operate with smaller squads and budgets and it’s ridiculous ending on April 24. Why can’t we go into the first week of May?

“If you do well in the FA Trophy, you end up playing midweek right up to the end of the season.

“That hampers successful teams but the situation can easily be rectified.”

Foyle added that he is also in no rush to strengthen his in-form squad during the transfer window, which will close on January 31, citing excessive personal terms as another reason.

He said: “I’ve spoken to one or two people to see who’s available but, when we discuss wages, that’s usually when the phone call ends. You are always on the lookout but I don’t want to unsettle my players because they are doing well.

“We are quite solid in most areas because we built the squad with that in mind.”