FIVE Premier League weekend fixtures have already fallen victim to the adverse weather conditions enveloping England, with Chelsea’s match at Hull City the latest to be called off.
Liverpool’s clash with Tottenham, Fulham’s game against Portsmouth, Stoke’s trip to Burnley and Sunderland’s fixture against Bolton at the Stadium of Light have also been postponed.
And another Premier League game is in jeopardy after Wigan revealed at around 9pm on Friday that their undersoil heating has failed ahead of the clash with Aston Villa.
Referee Stuart Attwell will inspect the pitch at 8.30am on Saturday to decide whether the match can go ahead as scheduled at 3pm.
The area around the ground has been declared safe, and manager Roberto Martinez told the club’s official website: “I have to congratulate our safety team at the stadium who have worked tirelessly to try and clear the area of ice and snow over the past few days.
“Our ground staff have also spent several nights at the stadium making the sure the pitch remained playable. We have to keep our fingers crossed that tonight’s frost is not too severe but a final decision rests with the referee.”
The big freeze has wreaked havoc with the fixture list in England this weekend with the lower leagues also badly hit - not a single match will be played League Two or the Conference.
The Premier League fixture list had remained intact until Friday morning when the game between Fulham and Portsmouth at Craven Cottage was the first to be postponed.
A club statement read: “Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Portsmouth at the Cottage has been postponed due to the adverse weather conditions which are not expected to improve over the next 24 hours.
“The safety of supporters is of paramount importance to the club and following an inspection of the areas surrounding Craven Cottage on Friday morning it was deemed unsafe for fans to travel.”
Burnley then announced that their game against Stoke City at Turf Moor will not be going ahead due to safety reasons before Bolton’s trip to Sunderland was also called off.
Liverpool requested that their game with Spurs was also postponed “for safety reasons” and by Friday afternoon the clash had been cancelled, along with Chelsea’s match with Hull at the KC Stadium.
Birmingham have said that their pitch is completely playable ahead of their match against Manchester United on Saturday evening but, as with all games, there is a doubt about the pavements around the ground.
Meanwhile, Manchester United have rearranged their home game with Hull City for Saturday, January 23. The game should have been played at the end of the month but was postponed due to the rescheduling of the Carling Cup semi-finals.
EPL Fixtures (u.k times):
Jan 9, 2010
|
Hull City |
postponed |
Chelsea |
.
Jan 10, 2010
|
West Ham |
13.30 |
Wolverhampton |
.
Jan 11, 2010
|
Manchester City |
20.00 |
Blackburn |
Related posts
- Manchester United v City, Blackburn v Aston Villa off
- Chelsea smile as rivals United, Arsenal held to draws on wintry night
Main topics: English Premier League
Sub topics: English Premier League, EPL 2009/2010, Fixture, Postponed
