The Isle of Man Football Association has said it ‘hopes for better referee availability in the coming weeks’ after several matches were postponed on Saturday because of a shortage of officials.

On Friday, clubs across the island were warned that up to nine matches could be at risk, with the FA saying it had ‘exhausted all avenues’ for appointing registered referees.

Among those initially affected were two Canada Life Premier League fixtures, St John’s versus Peel at Mullen-e-Cloie and St Mary’s against Foxdale at the Bowl.

Both games were later assigned referees and went ahead as planned.

However, five fixtures ultimately did not take place due to the lack of a referee.

These included Marown versus Douglas Royal in Ardern & Druggan Division Two, Union Mills versus Ayre in Canada Life Combination One, Malew versus Castletown in Ardern & Druggan Combination Two, and Douglas Royal versus Marown in the same division.

In a statement, the FA said: ‘This past weekend we were notified there were a lot of registered referees unavailable, 24 we believe, for various reasons.

‘We hope for better referee availability in the coming weeks.’

One fixture, RYCOB’s home match against Pulrose in Combi Two, was listed by the FA as postponed due to an unplayable pitch.

But RYCOB stated on social media that the game did not go ahead because no referee was assigned.

Clarifying the confusion, the FA confirmed: ‘There wasn’t a referee assigned and the two clubs hadn’t agreed an auxiliary.

‘Ultimately, they didn’t have a referee for the game, so RYCOB’s post is factually correct.’