The Voice - Match preview #25: Bradford City vs Rotherham United Tuesday 24 February 2026 7.45pm

I dont think weather will be an issue for us. It will be the stands and/or surrounding area of VP if the ice cant melt in time I think from the looks of things? Maybe the Bradford end goal too will be worth a check as it's always an issue this time of year.

 

Perhaps we can afford under soil heating (as well as running hot water in the Gent's) if we go up. And the council could salt the roads and pavements around the stadium the day before the match if needed. We can but dream.

 

Whilst he might understand the weather and the forecast I'm not sure how much he understands pitches and how the pitch recovers from the frost unless. If the pitch is ok now then the game should be fine, my worry is if the cold temperatures earlier in the week and weekend have got into the pitch then are we able to get enough heat onto the pitch to thaw it. One thing that will help us is that we're playing Rotherham so we can leave an inspection until Saturday morning

 

It's the frozen pitch at Oldham rather than snow or anything.

I live in OL5, about five miles from Boundary Park. For 48 hours earlier this week it didn't get higher than -5. When I dropped our youngest off at nursery one morning the car was showing -11.

Getting a good beating with the snow tonight. Thankfully the floor was wet so it took a while to start settling.

 

Oldham is one of the few EFL teams to play in the Arctic Circle.

 

Not good for travelling fans

 

FA cup is the reason

 

Yer, was going to say the same. Most of the canceled games are due to FA Cup clashes

 

We got past the Port Vale challenge, just, so I am far more optimistic we can also get past this challenge. They went to Bolton the other week and it was 1-1 until the 93rd minute so it probably won't be easy, despite their horrific form. If we can get an early goal then we can hammer these but I'm taking a 1-0 win all day long - a much needed 3pts before the next 3 fixtures which are huge and could be season defining.

Any news on Pennington and Pointon? I guess we need to stick with the same 11. I wouldn't be against Sibley in for Kavanagh if he is up to it.

 

But that requires the temperature to drop below freezing and potentially for a prolonged period of time (the problem Oldham were having). It will be 2-5 degrees in the area today, may drop to 0 or -1 overnight but temperatures will rise again on Saturday so hopefully all should be fine.

 

From GAs interview the other day, Pointon still hasn't trained as his foot wound is still a problem. He said there was a chance he could join the group today but he wont rush him. Pennington and Richards are about ready to return but because of the mad rush of games, there haven't been as many training sessions as they'd want in the last few weeks to see how well they have progressed. He said Pennington had a chance to be in the Blackpool squad at one point so he cant be far off.

 

Both will only be cover at the moment surely?

With a week off and hopefully no knocks I would hope it’s pretty much same as last weeks starting eleven with Humphreys Humphrey’s Humphries Humpty Dumpty Humphrys for Kav.

 

No snow here in Eccleshill, prediction was for heavy snow yesterday evening, never arrived. Downgraded to rain and "wintery mix" as the night went on, totally clear outside but a bit wet.

Surely that's game on.

 

Why? Any pitch inspection should be done at 12pm earliest. That way it can be more accurately assessed whether the pitch will be playable at 3pm.
Any fans travelling from afar who have concerns the game might be off can choose not to travel if they so wish.

 

You'd think so? Yeah might as well go with Humphrys if we aren't bringing in a proper striker this window. Anyones better than Kav at the minute.

 

My only worry is too much water snd churning the pitch. Its not bad at the moment but the game could wreck it.

 

No snow , not freezing and all clear around VP currently
nothing forecast now till Sunday morning, so all down to the pitch and those covers.

 

You can buy their ticket …….

 

Be nice to have Pennington ready and waiting incase of another Mansfield type hammering where we need to shuffle the deck. Don't see that happening on Saturday but Cardiff probably capable.

Humphrys for Kav would be nice but I just dont see him and Swan starting together.