The League has been contacted by a number of teams who have concerns about the state of their pitch ahead of tomorrow in view of the impending effects of Storm Darragh which is just about to hit us.
On the reverse side, the League has also been contacted by a number of teams advising that they expect their pitch to survive and to be ok to play on.
With this in mind the League requires Teams to take the following action:
If there are concerns today that the home pitch of the team may not be playable right now, then please inspect the pitch this afternoon, if at all possible, and advise me if the pitch is NOT playable.
If the pitch is ok today, or if it is not possible to inspect the pitch today, then concerns in the morning require a Team Representative to INSPECT THE PITCH NO LATER THAN 08.45AM in the morning and advise me immediately if it is not fit to play. Should the pitch NOT be fit to play on then team’s must advise me, AND MUST ADVISE THEIR OPPONENTS IMMEDIATELY, to prevent unnecessary travel on the day. The League will inform the Referee, hence the need to make the call early as the later it is left then the more chances are that the Referee or the team’s opponents may have set off to the game.
In situations like this the League (usually due to snow/ice) has blanket called off games previously but we have received much criticism for doing this when some pitches have not been so badly affected.
With this situation being down to rain only, and in view of some teams reporting that their pitches are expected to be playable, we feel that this approach is best all round so we ask all home teams here to help the League which will then help everyone else.
Regards,
Ian Stephenson
League Secretary.
