The League have considered the adverse weather forecast and the potential difficulties likely to be experienced with waterlogged pitches if the Met Office weather forecast comes to fruition overnight.
We have also taken into account the requests by in excess of 28 teams who have contacted the League Secretary today asking the League not to call an early postponement to the full fixture programme tomorrow.
After consideration the League have decided that ALL pitches MUST be inspected by a representative of the HOME Club NO LATER THAN 08.50am in the morning to establish whether the pitch is playable and whether the playing of the game will pose a serious risk of injury when the actual wind speed is known on the day.
The League obviously cannot send a representative to every ground at this time, hence the responsibility will be borne by the home Club so as to prevent unnecessary travel for their opposition players and the Match Official/s wherever they are allocated. It will also give the League the opportunity to deploy Match Officials elsewhere if games have to be postponed and other matches are playable where there are currently no Officials appointed.
The decision has been taken after particularly listening to the request of the vast majority of Clubs that have contacted the League. This is what will happen:
Pitch inspection and safety evaluation by the HOME Club NO LATER THAN 08.50am in the morning.
If the game is ON then no further action is necessary.
If the game is OFF then the HOME Club must inform their opposition immediately and inform Mr Barraclough (Referee Secretary) by TEXT 0n 07799 505082 so that he can inform the Match Referee and deploy them elsewhere if necessary. To complete the process for any game OFF I require a TEXT no later than 09.00 AM so that I can update the website for any persons checking that.
Having formed a group chat on Whatsapp for the teams that use this media facility I have no objection to those using it updating it but I stress again a team that considers its pitch unplayable or the game too much of a danger due to wind (flying debris / structures nearby) they must also inform their opponents and Colin and myself to ensure that nobody turns up for a game that has been postponed on the day.
Finally if there is an element of doubt about whether a game can be played following the morning inspection then the Match Referee will decide upon their arrival at the pitch if they haven’t been cancelled as set out above.
Best wishes to all,
League Secretary