match abandoned - merge o matic active

[24hoursfromtulsehill]

Completely and utterly agree. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

I nearly got the day off. If I had, I would have driven up whilst phoning around for a ticket, and then I would've driven back down here overnight for work in the morning.

 

To have not done any of that and then the game gets called off after eight minutes makes my blood boil.

[boboafc]

just seen someone else put that photo on Edited November 3, 2010 by boboafc

[PlayItLivo]

Bollocks. I dare say there were a fair few players and coaches out there who wanted to come off (Brill in particular). When it comes down to it, the players' safety is paramount and in those conditions there was more than a chance of serious damage.

 

Not to mention the fact that the game was already a farce - another 80 minutes of that would have been no way to settle a match.

 

I was referring to the fans.

[tony4938]

Because Dale said there was no need for a pitch inspection as the pitch was okay. They wanted everyone to get there to spend a few quid and as there is a lack of statement on their part, I would assume they want everyone to pay again. I dont think they will get away with that though!

 

Irrespective if Rochdale said there was no need for an inspection, its not up to them. The referee has to do a pitch inspection before a match no matter what the weather is like. Either he failed in his duty to do an inspection or he has made a very poor decision to allow it to go ahead. Its not often I blame a Referee these days but this time there is no defence.

[oafc0000]

What a :censored: state of affairs...

[Scapegoat]

I arrived fairly early (after calling to check it was on) as I was working over this side of Yorkshire (where I am cased).

 

Felt that that level of rainfall did not significantly change / alter the condition of the pitch near the KO time, so it does seem a bad decision somewhere along the line not to have made an inspection at say 6pm and a decsion then.

 

I don't know the details of who is responsible for this - the club, the ref etc. But one of them has to look at it and say - bad decision. If the forecast was for the rain to recede in the evening then perhaps it would make more sense to leave it and hope - but all the forecasts I read showed rain all night.

 

It COULD have been abandoned earlier and made the night less disruptive for people.

 

 

The ref then does arrive, and I can understand the decision once he and everyone else is in the ground to give it a go and see how badly it impacts on the game. It might look worse than it is. Sadly it was clearly unplayable, and the correct decision was made.

 

I await the news on the re-match ticketing arrangements. If its anything other than use your stub to get a direct exchange for another ticket I will feel Rochdale are not playing fair.

[oafcprozac]

I arrived fairly early (after calling to check it was on) as I was working over this side of Yorkshire (where I am cased).

 

Felt that that level of rainfall did not significantly change / alter the condition of the pitch near the KO time, so it does seem a bad decision somewhere along the line not to have made an inspection at say 6pm and a decsion then.

 

I don't know the details of who is responsible for this - the club, the ref etc. But one of them has to look at it and say - bad decision. If the forecast was for the rain to recede in the evening then perhaps it would make more sense to leave it and hope - but all the forecasts I read showed rain all night.

 

It COULD have been abandoned earlier and made the night less disruptive for people.

 

 

The ref then does arrive, and I can understand the decision once he and everyone else is in the ground to give it a go and see how badly it impacts on the game. It might look worse than it is. Sadly it was clearly unplayable, and the correct decision was made.

 

I await the news on the re-match ticketing arrangements. If its anything other than use your stub to get a direct exchange for another ticket I will feel Rochdale are not playing fair.

 

On my way over (set off from mine in Chaddy at about 6.30) was listening to GMR and Jack Dearden said Latics and goalkeeping coach Paul Gerrard in particular had serious concerns over the penalty areas and whether pass backs would be a lottery - that was at ten past 7. I got in the ground at 7.15 and you could already see standing water in the four corners and it simply got worse. The game should never have started and given the amount of work being done by the groundstaff the ref should have got his arse out there and made a decision.

[Lags]

The referee and his two assistants where indeed out on the pitch long before kick off warming up. This warming up session took them all around the pitch and at one point they even stopped their jog to speak to the two sponge roller groundstaff. Afterwich they seemed happy enough to continue on their merry way. There is no way that the pitch deteriorated so much so beyond that time to it's abandonment. It's a given that it was a poor decision to start the game. At no point did I see an official trying to roll a ball over any part of the ground prior to kick off and to my mind it was the number of times the ball lodged in sodden area's that convinced the ref to stop the match.

This now must result in Rochdale honouring these match tickets or I will be strongly canvassing for all Latics fans to boycott this rearranged match.

Edited November 3, 2010 by Lags

[dec666]

It's nothing new to me that Spotland has once again failed to get a game on. I couldn't even tell you how many Rugby League games have been called off at the slightest drop of rain. They seem to know exactly whether the pitch is playable when it comes to rugby, but they seemed desperate to avoid calling this one off. Wonder why that is.

[LaticsPete]

Why are people saying its 'Dales fault?

 

The Ref has sole responsibility for the inspection, i'd be very surprised if he didn't do one, and if he did then it was obviously the wrong decision.

 

The fault lies solely with the Ref.

 

Hear, hear.

He was warming up with his linesmen before 7pm and never once checked out by rolling a bal the worst area of the pitch where the squeegees were being used.

Edited November 3, 2010 by LaticsPete

[oafc0000]

This now must result in Rochdale honouring these match tickets or I will be strongly canvassing for all Latics fans to boycott this rearranged match.

 

Surely fans are entitled to a refund or entrance to the next match ? Is that under question ?

[LaticsLee]

if the fans can see the picth is not playable why carnt the person actually on the pitch know ???

[Lags]

Surely fans are entitled to a refund or entrance to the next match ? Is that under question ?

 

Well in a nutshell....yes. Because the match actually started. So by the letter of the rules Rochdale can charge again.

 

He was warming up with his linesmen before 7pm and never once checked out by rolling a bal the worst area of the pitch where the squeegees were being used.

 

The officials did stop and chat to the roller groundstaff I saw them do so. Pete you changed your post ya bugger!!

Edited November 3, 2010 by Lags

[pukka]

Well in a nutshell....yes. Because the match actually started. So by the letter of the rules Rochdale can charge again.

 

He was warming up with his linesmen before 7pm and never once checked out by rolling a bal the worst area of the pitch where the squeegees were being used.

 

The officials did stop and chat to the roller groundstaff I saw them do so. Pete you changed your post ya bugger!!

 

 

The adverse publicity wouldn't be worth it.

[oafcprozac]

Well in a nutshell....yes. Because the match actually started. So by the letter of the rules Rochdale can charge again.

 

He was warming up with his linesmen before 7pm and never once checked out by rolling a bal the worst area of the pitch where the squeegees were being used.

 

The officials did stop and chat to the roller groundstaff I saw them do so. Pete you changed your post ya bugger!!

 

Having researched this, this morning the official line is that if the game abandoned BEFORE KO then a full refund/replacement FOC is due. If the game has started then only a 50% refund/discount is applicable. However, this is at the club's discretion. I hope common sense will prevail bearing in mind we paid for programmes, petrol etc.. to get over there.

 

Word of praise for Latics, when the LDV game with Stoke was abandoned after about 70 minutes in January 2000 due to Floodlight Failure, the club acted swiftly and actually handed out emergency vouchers giving free entry to any rearranged game through stewards at the exit gates. Problem solved immediately. Knowing how amateurish Rochdale have been over the years with calling games off due to their :censored:ty pitch (and given the amount of money they have made over the last four or five years it really is a pisstake that they have done little to remedy it) i'm sure they will try to cash in. If they do, they can stick it!

Edited November 3, 2010 by oafcprozac

[LaticsLee]

how many would go back if we did have to pay for the re match ??

[JonesyOAFC]

Irrespective if Rochdale said there was no need for an inspection, its not up to them. The referee has to do a pitch inspection before a match no matter what the weather is like. Either he failed in his duty to do an inspection or he has made a very poor decision to allow it to go ahead. Its not often I blame a Referee these days but this time there is no defence.

Surely the game could've been called off a good 2-3 hours before kick off with the rain we were having? There's no way the pitch got that bad in the hour leading up to the game. A pointless £15 wasted for me travelling over from preston anyway...

[losesome]

The adverse publicity wouldn't be worth it.

 

I reckon Rochdale will try and pull a fast one to cover the extra costs of policing etc for the re-arranged game.

 

Reckon £5 entry to those with a ticket stub ?

 

That will cost Latics money because SC has gone on record by saying that no Latics fans will have to pay again -

will be interesting outcome !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The whole thing stinks to me ,It was obvious to all players , staff and fans BEFORE kick off that the pitch was not playable , reckon the ref was conned by Rochdale by not bringing it to his attention and that it was also a total lack of professionalism by him for not inspecting earlier ,then under pressure by Rochdale to get the game started knowing they wont be obliged to refund the money.

 

Rather like the test match a few years ago where they played 10 overs in the rain so they wouldn't have to refund the money.

 

No doubt the proof will be in Rochdale's response to this ??

 

[Fruitygoo]

how many would go back if we did have to pay for the re match ??

 

I can only assume they wont charge their own fans....I know a few dale part-timers who go every now and again. if they're recharged, they'll never visit the ground again so they'll be losing some of their own fans - and if they don't charge their own fans they cannot charge us.

[pukka]

I can only assume they wont charge their own fans....I know a few dale part-timers who go every now and again. if they're recharged, they'll never visit the ground again so they'll be losing some of their own fans - and if they don't charge their own fans they cannot charge us.

 

 

Legally they would have to charge both. (inc their season ticket holders) - the game paid for was "played" last night.

 

 

It wont happen

[slystallone]

The pitch was not suitable and an inspection hours before would have indicated that, saving people a lot of hassle and money.

 

That said, I've seen us play in worse conditions, both teams were there, both have the same disadvantage, the surface almost cost us a goal but we could have adapted to hoofing it to Tounkara. With the amount of effort from the fans, the policing, there was really little point in calling it off for us just to have to do it again, when we might run into problems such as frozen pitches. The game should have just been played in the rainy conditions (the rain wasn't even heavy, it was just constant with a little wind) both teams have to adjust to it. 90 minutes of football in not ideal conditions on either team, but saves everyone a lot of hassle.

 

Like I said, the game should have been called off at 2 hours notice, but given that it did kick off, it might as well have finished, it was only rain.

That is pretty much word for word how i felt last night / still feel this morning.

 

If you’re going to call it off; then do it before people have set off for the game and can still see articles on internet to say it’s off. If it was the same at 6pm; as i would imagine it would have been (& PD has confirmed) then call it off then – it’s still enough time.......instead of letting 3,200 Latics fans and about 2,000 ‘Dale fans turn up; get into the ground and watch 8 minutes of ‘football’.

Just like Stitch_KTF i was sat in crap traffic for 50 mins; and got in just in time for KO; but had to stand at the bottom of the stand and got soaked for 8minutes........not at all impressed. And; like many – chances are I’ll be working for the re-arranged game considering I had to switch around shifts in my department to make sure I was free for this one.

 

[LaticsPete]

Hartlepool have said that their abandoned match tickets will be valid for the re-arranged game. Rochdale please follow..Poolies

[seasidelatic]

If Dogdale do charge for any re-arranged fixture couldn't Latics bump up the prices for away fans when they visit BP?

[creepy]

game should never have gone ahead, that rain was forecast to go on all night

 

i think i watched about 5 seconds of football (after getting there late)

 

there could be a ticket available if i cant book the night off work

[beag_teeets]

7 pages!

 

7 pages on this nonsense, some match threads don't get to 7 pages! The Plymouth match thread with 2 sendings off and 6 goals managed it but that is an exception.

 

It chucked it down, we had 8 minutes and it was called off. Should have been called off sooner and Dale sold a couple of thousand pies which to be fair did look quite tasty and would have been a shame to waste them. Me, I had a bag of quavers which made the roof of my mouth go funny, still a bit odd today - I hope the dale equivalent of Hardy is happy today!!!

 

We'd have done the same thing, everyone wanted that game to go ahead so you can't blame Dale or the ref for giving it as good a go as they could, shame that the weather had other ideas. It was probably or the best, would have been a poor game as the players couldn't judge what the ball was going to do, could have kept "What happened next" in business for years.

 

Ah well, we all know the way there now, some might even have found a sneaky shortcut that avoids some of the traffic on the way back.