TAVISTOCK’S hugely popular festival of football the Son-Rise Cup, which attracts thousands of people to the town to enjoy the sport, has been cancelled for 2018.

Organisers held an emergency committee meeting on Monday night to decide whether this year’s tournament could go ahead.

Reluctantly and against a backdrop of circumstance conspiring against them, the committee unanimously made the tough decision to cancel this year’s event, which is held at the end of May.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom for the event, as organisers have said that they are already planning the 2019 event in earnest.

Robin Rich, the chairman of the Son-Rise Cup, explained: ‘The size of the Son-Rise Cup is now huge, it attracts thousands of people to the town. We’ve had to make the decision as to whether we could go ahead, for the sake of other people to organise themselves including stallholders, managers, competitors and everyone else involved.

‘We’ve had real problems with the weather, the pitches are absolutely atrocious. To get them to be in the playable state we need them to be to go ahead would be a tall order if not impossible — even if it was dry non-stop from now until the end of May. Realistically we know there’s more rain ahead!

‘Because of the weather being so bad recently, the league season has been extended due to a backlog of games that need to be played. This means teams either aren’t entering or were planning to leave their entry to the last minute. By now we would have expected to have around 100 entries — we’ve had 24.

‘Everything has gone against us. Rather than hang on and put on an event nowhere near the size and success of previous years, we’ve decided to have a year off and come back bigger and better than ever. It’s a bit like Glastonbury!

‘We will work hard towards making sure the 2019 event is the best one yet. We have no intention of calling a complete end to it.

‘Having to cancel this year’s event is a huge blow. It was a sad affair at our committee meeting. The whole team and committee looked at all other avenues and kept coming up with the same answers.

‘But we want to let people know we will be back, better than ever in 2019!’

The event was founded in 2006 by Allen Lewis to promote autism awareness and help fund specialist treatment for Allen’s son Paul, who has autism.

Since the original fundraising match between Tavistock Tyres and the Union Inn, the Son-Rise Cup has grown into a weekend-long festival celebrating the inclusivity of football, holding games for people of all abilities to take participate in.

The event now raises money to fund Tavi Specials, the town’s football club for people with disabilities.

Allen Lewis said: ‘It is very disappointing for everyone, but you just can’t beat the weather. The league season extension has killed us.

‘We have a big responsibility to the community and to the Tavi Specials. There is so much to fund, from transport, league fees, equipment, hiring of facilities and so much more. We can’t afford to lose money because the Specials is such a big thing for the community.

‘We will come back bigger and better for 2018.’

The charity match between Tavy Hire vs Goldring’s Gulls — named in honour of Brighton and Hove Albion fan Graham Goldring — will still take place at Langsford Park on May 13.