The Voice - Match preview Barrow vs Bradford City Tuesday 23 April 2024 7.45pm (with exciting New Poll)

Match should have been abandoned.

 

Sums it up nicely. Clearly they have a “wet” patch. Needs digging out in the close season with additional drainage and different substrata. ( If it’s possible )

 

No idea re your first point. Others who have posted earlier reported what went on. I can’t , nor you can’t decide as to its accuracy unfortunately . I know it was deemed unplayable , that why the ref postponed it!

 

I might be wrong but looking at their pitch in the last few games it seems that water was not the issue. There are large patches of sand all along the end of the pitch.

 

Their manager himself said he merely said to the ref 'it's your decision'. In his interview he doesn't say he encouraged the ref that he wanted the game to go ahead during the inspection. Looks like he kept his powder dry.

 

No he wasn’t wrong to “ consult”. That provision is clearly stated in the rules . He ignored whatever he was consulted on as he had deemed himself the pitch unplayable. That’s why I said earlier, the rule is stupidly written.

 

In my old industry a “wet patch” wasn’t standing water , it was water underneath a surface. When pressure was applied water oozed out. I had not come across the phenomenon before but someone described it as a “sponge” . Which I suppose is obvious really. Looks dry on the outside , yet full of water . I just feel sorry for all those that spent hard earned cash. There has to be a way that both clubs get together to reimburse costs as a goodwill gesture?

 

As we know the referees are inconsistent when making decisions. Who's to say that another referee wouldn't have given the go ahead? It could be that games have been been played on that pitch in a worse condition, therefore the benchmark of using that game as a comparator had been met. If there's anything to be learnt, any Barrow match day referee should get to the ground earlier and carry out an inspection so that travelling fans can be informed. This may still be too late for some fans, given the geographical location of Barrow in the North West.

 

I'll be looking to go to the rearranged game, so I'm happy to take two adults. Date permitting.

Totally sympathise with your spend. Must be so annoying

 

I might be wrong but it literally just looks like they've dumped a load of sand over the gaps in the turf where the ground is loose. There's piles of sand everywhere. It's a joke. I understand the 'sponge' scenario with water sitting below visible level. This is literally just sand.

 

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation if the area concernd was unplayable with an hour to go it was unplayable much earlier or even the day before so the decision should have taken place then saving people time and money

 

The manager didn't provide any input in whether the game should go ahead. It's perfectly reasonable when the decision is borderline for the referees to ask the managers for their opinion. It looks like their manager didn't offer anything.

 

Agree with that. Having said that the weather wouldnt have raised any concerns. The officials should have been asked by the club who knew about the state of their pitch to do an earlier inspection.

 

But the pitch hadn't raised any concerns from officials of previous home games when apparently the pitch was worse and not from the official who checked the day before yesterdays game? So why would the club know about a problem that hasn't actually been commented on before yesterdays official checked an hour or so before kick off?

 

And yet they haven't been pulled for it in that lengthy period, certainly not enough for a game to be postponed. I'm reluctant to apportion to blame Barrow here when they clearly think they have a pitch surface suitable for the game to go ahead.

 

Same here, woke up today still extremely pissed off. No common sense whatsoever by the ref. The expense is one thing, but when I work all week (as do most fans who went) the spare time I have on a weekend is very precious, so as yesterday was a total write off, I feel extremely hard done by, especially as the bastard sun was shining as we drove back up the A590

Also add to that, if I do go to the replay (which is probable so the lad keeps up his aim of every single game in a season) then I’ll likely have to take another half day hol. Infuriating

 

You don't think that over time the condition is more likely to deteriorate than improve?

If the ball wasn't bouncing during the inspection I'm not really sure what the referee is supposed to do.

 

One thing I’ll agree with you on here is the consulting of the managers, I didn’t even know that was a thing and sets a dangerous precedent imo. Shall we now do that with every game even in August? The sole responsibility is with the ref for postponements and bringing in any manager is wrong.

 

This ball bouncing thing is a complete red herring. At no point should a ball having a defective bounce on 2% of the pitch determine a postponement. It's an absolutely ludicrous decision that I hope has ramifications going forward for the referee in question. As humans we aren't perfect and in this case the ref has made an absolute howler which has cost fans and the clubs a lot of money. I'll await the outcome of Barrows complaint but I wouldn't hold my breath as Pete Wild alludes to in interview.