Swindon game off

Today's game at Swindon Supermarine has been postponed because the pitch is frozen.

Shame but not unexpected.

At least it gives injured players more time to get fit/fully fit.

Ours..., or theirs...?!!

Not worried about the opposition.

Game was called off too early IMO, most Football within a 20 mile radius of Swindon was played today. This league needs to get more professional. We now have 3 away games to play midweek & we all know what happened last season when we had a backlog of away fixtures to play at the end of the season.

The problem is that if we had travelled and the pitch still wasn't playable Swindon would have had to have paid our travel expenses for our return journey and few clubs can afford to do that.

I think a few seasons ago we called a game off early for those reasons before the opposition travelled but the pitch was playable later in the day and if I recall correctly we trained on it.

However I agree that it is strange that our game was called off when the likes of Didcot & Stratford played and they even had a game at Bishops Cleeve and they were all playing teams who had a fair distance to travel.

Old Sod wrote:The problem is that if we had travelled and the pitch still wasn't playable Swindon would have had to have paid our travel expenses for our return journey and few clubs can afford to do that.  

I think a few seasons ago we called a game off early for those reasons before the opposition travelled but the pitch was playable later in the day and if I recall correctly we trained on it.

However I agree that it is strange that our game was called off when the likes of Didcot & Stratford played and they even had a game at Bishops Cleeve and they were all playing teams who had a fair distance to travel.

Having decided to travel up early because of a planned stop off, I ironically missed the notice of the cancellation of the game being posted on the forum by a few minutes.
When I got to ground I was amazed that the reason for it being called off was a frozen pitch,as were a few Swindon fans who also turned up.
The grass verge in the car park was soft,and there was no sign of frost.The outside temperature was 6 degrees going by my car,and it was a damn sight warmer than Evesham last week!.

As OS said, Didcot was just up the road and they managed to play. This was definitely a poor knee jerk decision,and a frustrating and costly one for me!!!

Me thinks they would prefer to play us mid-week when perhaps we can't put out our strongest team, only answer is to beat them emphatically when we do play.

On Swindon's Twitter it says PARTS of the pitch were frozen. Perhaps they have the same trouble as we do, with a shaded area of the pitch not getting any sun and not thawing out.

Merthyr Imp wrote:On Swindon's Twitter it says PARTS of the pitch were frozen. Perhaps they have the same trouble as we do, with a shaded area of the pitch not getting any sun and not thawing out.

Very diplomatic Malcolm.

KPT1950 wrote:Me thinks they would prefer to play us mid-week when perhaps we can't put out our strongest team, only answer is to beat them emphatically when we do play.

They would definitely have wanted the game on today with a large following of Martyrs fans expected to attend the game. Swindon SM are not in relegation trouble or are they going to trouble the play off positions.

Swindon are in the RED INSURE CUP and are looking to progress according to their web site . that means more Tuesday night games . I can not see them wanting Saturday fixtures canceled and loosing the best gate of their season.

OK I give in, the Pitch was Frozen.

Merthyr Imp wrote:Not worried about the opposition.

The cynic in me wonders at the number of first team they had unavailable... Of course, that would mean influencing the ref - unthinkable!

I was in Swindon yesterday anyway because I'd arranged to meet some friends who live in Swindon for a drink/food before the match. On my way back to the the railway station I noticed that Swindon Town were home and their game was on. There again, professional club with employed ground staff full time and probably pitch covers. I also went past the Supermarine ground around lunchtime and noticed the temperature was at least 7 degrees.

It's far too easy for Clubs in this league to get games called off. The rules need changing to ensure every effort possible is made to ensure that games are played. I believe for instance that only the Match Day referee should have this jurisdiction & if that means there is a cost for the Home team if the game is called off then so be it.