Match Thread Home Versus Crawley Saturday 16th January- MATCH POSTPONED

Yeah I agree I live in idle too really bad can understand the thinking in calling it off

 

But making the surrounding area safe applies principally to a game where spectators are present. Surely we could have made it safe for the few people who would be in attendance to arrive and leave safely. I've looked at this from every angle and for the life of me I can't see why, if the pitch is playable tomorrow, the game couldn't go ahead. The ref was happy with the pitch so that should have been the end of his involvement today. And yet the EFL called it off. So either the ref contacted them to say the surrounds were unsafe, which, as I understand it, is beyond his remit, and despite the fact that he readily admitted he was not qualified to do so, or the club did. But why would they do that when we've moved heaven and earth to get the game played? And a further point, were the criteria applied those which relate to spectator safety when there aren't any spectators? I know I'm making a meal of this but as far as I can see this hasn't been handled correctly and I think we deserve an honest explanation.

 

@Dennis has posted the relevant information from the EFL guidance - "The final decision would be out of the hands of the match referee on the day and would instead be based upon a recommendation from the Club’s Safety Advisory Group to the EFL."

The club did not want to play the game. Not sure why it's so hard to accept, it's apparently the explanation whenever we have an away game postponed.

 

The Met Office disagrees with heavy snow all night

Just saying.

 

Heavy snow and a moderate breeze tonight on bbc Weather, aside from the conditions already. what’s ya point? Worth travelling 270 miles?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2654993

 

Clearly you dont understand who the Safety Advisory Group are. Members include Local Authority, Fire Service, Police and Ambulance Service. They are set-up by the Local Authority under the Sports grounds safety acts of 1975 and 1987. If they recommended that the game did not take place then City and the EFL would be foolish to ignore the advise because they would be liable if anything went wrong on the day.

 

That's fine. But there's no mention of that anywhere. If the police or the local authority had called the game off no one would have an issue with that. But there has been no indication that that was the case. Had it been surely the club would have said so.

 

What reason would the club have for not wanting this match on if possible. They haven’t played for weeks and need to get matches on. If they had wanted this match of they would have just made sure the pitch was unplayable as Scunthorpe did last week

 

Well we'll see what happens, but if the Met Office are right, 6 degrees by 15:00 and little overnight snow could completely change the picture...

I'm not saying anything prediction wise, but the Met Office is more accurate than BBC Weather.

 

This is what the referee said


There is obviously a much bigger picture than the playing perspective though and the roads around the ground certainly do not look or feel safe.

"The EFL have to take into account the fact the away side have a long distance to travel and are likely to be bringing their team coach down Valley Parade.

"The ground staff here have put me in a position to say that the pitch is fine, so massive credit goes to them, but there are much bigger decisions to be made in terms of safety outside the ground."

 

@Dennis has posted the relevant information from the EFL guidance - "The final decision would be out of the hands of the match referee on the day and would instead be based upon a recommendation from the Club’s Safety Advisory Group to the EFL."

So the only people who can call the match off are. 1. The referee if it down to the pitch being unplayable (technically there are other situations where the ref can call it off like a team not turning up etc) or 2. EFL on the recommendation of the SAG ( there is a 3rd scenario where the EFL call the game off due other circumstances like lack of players etc.)

 

Yep. So did the SAG call it off?

 

No they cant. The make a recommendation. The EFL guidance is clear. In this case the ref cant not call it off, he has to refer it back to the EFL who would look at the SAG recommendation and make a decision.

 

the club are responsible for ensuring that any one who attends the came has clear entry and exit in case of emergency. including ambulance teams, paramedics and St John's staff.. the club could not guarantee that if someone required emergency care or transfer to hospital that this would be available due to the surrounding roads etc. if the club can not guarantee this then the match has to be postponed. imagine the headlines and repurcussions if a player suffered a head injury and could not be transferred to hospital due to surrounding roads. the club would be liable for this. it's not the end of the world that the match has been postponed.

 

So did they make a recommendation? If they did why don't the club say so and clear it all up?

 

The whole annoying thing about this is Madley had no reason whatsoever to check the pitch first, could have saved everyone time and effort by telling everyone involved to check outside the stadium rather than in it.