Pat Miller, the referee who cancelled Colchester`s fixture against Hull over the weekend, has today admitted there was no alternative but to obey the weather excess surface water forced a postponement.
The ref said in today`s Evening Gazette: “If you looked at the pitch from the stands at a higher level, anyone would think that you wouldn’t have had a problem.
“However, having walked the pitch with my officials the four corners in particular proved quite dangerous.”
That has left the problem of when to reschedule the match, amid the comments from Hull manager Phil Brown that he thought the game should have gone ahead.
It had been thought this would be next weekend, much to the displeasure of Hull`s staff who played a Dubai training camp, given that both teams are already eliminated from FA Cup completion.
However, policing arrangements at Layer Road would prove difficult, it has emerged, because they must be notified at least ten days prior to any fixture being played.
In the meantime, Hull boss Brown may still be able to take his team abroad, while the Tigers have also announced that those who had already paid for travel to the fixture will now be able to get to Essex without incurring extra cost.
This would have impacted somewhere in the region of 1,000 visiting fans.
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Phil Brown is wrong to say that he would be first person to moan if the game went ahead and he lost or one of his players got hurt playing to the waterlogged pitch the players safey comes first.
Fair point brodie, im sure he would have, looks like it will take place on a Tuesday night, again, hope we get a repeat fixture of ‘that nght’.
Real shame for the Hull fans that would have traveled down for that one, alot of them won’t be able to make it back midweek, a real shame. Mind you as you say they wouldn’t have been too happy if the conditions would have contributed to their defeat.
Phil Brown was heard and seen to be delighted withe the postponment but he is not going to say that to the Hull fans getting off the bus now is he? The bloke is a complete liar!
I don’t think he lied, he is dissapointed, as we all were. But the fact is we will have to play on an evening now.
Brodie makes a good point, Geriant might have come out and said the same. It’s better that the game was off if it was dangerous; perhaps some of his comments have been taken out of context on other pages or in the press.