Alfreton player slams 'joke' last-minute decision to cancel FA Cup clash at Biggleswade
Players and fans of a Derbyshire football club who travelled more than two hours for an FA Cup match have slammed the decision to call off the fixture just 75 minutes before kick-off. Alfreton Town goalkeeper, George Willis, led the frustrations on X, formerly Twitter, after Biggleswade Town FC confirmed that their 7.45pm fixture against The Reds on Tuesday (October 1) was cancelled because of a waterlogged pitch.
He labelled the decision an "absolute joke", adding: "How was this ever going to be on? The sacrifices players, staff, volunteers and supporters make at this level, just to turn back around as soon we arrive. Some lads travelling 6 hours. Staggering how you leave this to be decided 75 mins before kick-off."
The postponement was announced at 6.30pm, meaning fans of the club - as well as players and staff - had already made the two-and-a-half hour journey to Bedfordshire. At 10.30am on Tuesday, the club shared an image of their ground, the Yvette Brewer Stadium, showing sunshine and clear skies, along with the caption: "Game on! The weather's been on our side since Friday, and now all efforts are focused on tonight's FA Cup match! Couldn't be happier – see you tonight, Waders and Reds!"
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Football fans were quick to criticise the late call, with many believing that the travelling fans should have been informed of any issues earlier in the day. One X user, @footymad889899, said: "Absolutely poor from Biggleswade wouldn’t have been as bad on Saturday but on a wet cold Tuesday night fans travelled hours just to see this - this is not right."
The official Alfreton Town FC X account also had a slight dig at the decision, stating: "Disappointingly, despite the information we received stating there was no requirement for a pitch inspection, tonight’s FA Cup fixture is postponed due to a waterlogged pitch after inspection by the referee. Apologies to the travelling supporters."
Biggleswade Town has now responded to the backlash online, showing a timeline of what happened. A spokesperson for the club said: "We would like to address the situation from yesterday's postponed FA Cup game and the sequence of events with you.
"The pitch on Monday evening was in a playable condition. The pitch was playable at 1pm on Tuesday and all work to prepare for matchday had been informed. We received unforecasted levels of rain/downpours in the local area. At 3pm, the pitch was checked again by our groundsteam owing to the amount of rainfall and standing water present.
"Our opposition was informed at this stage that there was an issue and that we would try to organise a pitch inspection. A local official could not be found to perform a pitch inspection despite our best efforts. The match officials could not attend the ground earlier than 6pm as they were working.
"We kept in contact with the opposition officials on the situation who agreed to continue their journey. The decision was made by the match official to postpone the game on their inspection.
"During all the above the grounds team and volunteers on site continued efforts to make the surface suitable for play. We understand the frustration, and we share in that with you when the time, effort and money from all concerned has been spent only not to get the game played.
"We acknowledge that a social media post in the afternoon when the game was in doubt would have been beneficial. Non-league football is run and performed by volunteers and people who do this outside of their day jobs and families, sometimes time constraints and being the the moment of trying to resolve many issues means that there are not enough hands available to do all the many things needed. We can only offer our side of the events."