Following today’s late postponement, we wanted to provide supporters of both clubs with a full explanation of the events which ultimately led to the decision to call off the game.

As of yesterday, the Blundell Park pitch was deemed to be in good condition, despite the sub-zero temperatures. Providing the temperature didn’t drop too far below what was being forecast overnight, there was every reason to be optimistic that the game would go ahead as planned. Both the EFL, the match officials and the opposition were kept in the loop with the situation by club officials.

Despite overnight temperatures dropping to -4, the initial thoughts of our grounds team this morning was that the frost sheets had done their job. The decision was then made to not remove the sheets straight away as it would have likely increased the risk of the pitch freezing due to the sub-zero temperatures in Cleethorpes up until later this morning.

Upon his arrival at the ground, the referee advised that the covers should be removed from the pitch at 10:30am so that he could carry out a full inspection of the playing surface. The referee deemed that approximately 80% of the pitch was playable but 20% was frozen and unsafe and unlikely to thaw out in time.

Unfortunately, due to today’s game being broadcast live on Sky Sports +, there wasn’t an option to move the kick-off significantly beyond the planned kick-off time at short notice.

We apologise to supporters of both clubs for the lateness of the decision to postpone the fixture and the inconvenience it would have caused those travelling to the game from afar. We are also sorry for those who were attending the game to see our tribute to the Fallen Mariners from 2024. That tribute will now take place before the Chesterfield game next week.

UTM