Sunderland (A) - Game off

[E. Andrew]

'No, mate, you've got it all wrong..."



http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article ... 34016.aspx?

[Ian Royal]

Ian

I would suggest that local, short term Weather Forecasts are probably very reliable nowadays.

So are we assuming that the sudden heavy rainfall on Saturday morning was the sole reason postponement?

Or was it that the drainage system (or more likely the immature pitch structure) was struggling before then and should have been protected by the Ground Staff?

Or are ground conditions just something that we can't do anything about?


Oh..and "a bit damp" - do you not know what irony is?

"Yes, like goldy and silvery but made of iron"

Really? That's certainly not the impression I've got from weather forcasts. There may well have been more than one factor involved. I see no reason to demonise Sunderland's facilties when we have a perfectly good explanation in it pissing down. And I feel obliged to add a voice of reason to some of the more ignorant comments, whether they are made ironically or not.

[Royal Ginger]

There comes a point when any drainage system is maxed out. Rainfall in this country has been on the up in the summer/autumn months over the last 5 years, and this year has been especially wet. Stadium of Light is known to be one of the more modern, "better" stadiums, so perhaps the rain was just that hard?

That said, Middlesbrough (not a million miles away) no problems there.

And on top of that, not the worst reason for a postponement today...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19304123

[Upper West Ginger]

Stadium of Light is one of 4 current PL grounds that I've never visited (Carrow Road, White Hart Lane and Craven Cottage being the other three) so I was pleased it came up pretty early in the schedule, on a Bank Holiday weekend,so I could be sure of getting there.

To be fair, it was raining quite steadily in Newcastle all morning, and when I walked across the bridge in Sunderland the standing water on the carriageway was deep enough to cause pedestrians to get soaked by tidal waves generated by passing traffic.

It seemed odd to me that so many fans seemed to be walking AWAY from the ground, so eventually I asked one of them, and got the bad news.

I can almost guarantee that the match will be re-arranged for a Tuesday night in November, requiring me to take a day off work and arrange an overnight stay.

Not happy, but just resigned to it.

[old woman]

just my 20p worth- when we left SOL today, Overheard an official telling people that the heavens opened at 11 o'clock. The rain formed rivers on the pitch and the drains were overwhelmed.
Living up here, we have had a lot of rain and the ground is quite soggy. The rivers are very high. Sheer volume of water I'm afraid.
Witnessed the standing water on the bridge. Some poor man got soaked.

[larry1971]

well look on the bright side you couuld be a Torquay fan a few seasons back their game away to Darlington was postponed around 3 times each time on the day of the match...

[RG30]

Annoyed it was called off having left Reading Station at 5:48am but credit due to East Coast who allowed any supporters booked on advance train tickets to jump on earlier trains so I was back in London 3 hours earlier than scheduled

[RoyalBlue]

Blame nature or blame the new pitch?

Sunderland chief executive Margaret Byrne said: "Naturally everyone is hugely disappointed that our opening game of the season could not go ahead as planned.


"The club has invested a significant sum into pitchworks over the summer months and we are confident that it is in first-class condition.

"We will, however, meet with our pitch consultants immediately to carry out a full analysis of today's events."

weather reports are reknowned for their reliability. And there is a massive difference between "a bit damp" and prolonged torrential rainfall.

What exactly do you expect them to do? Get the stewards to bail water off the pitch with buckets?

I say again, if there was a big problem with Sunderland's drainage system they'd have games called off all the time.

Ian Royal - prepare to see some more postponements at Sunderland (they didn't have them previously because it was a different pitch surface/drainage system)or some pretty quick remedial work being undertaken on the pitch/drainage.


And, as has been mentioned, short range local weather forecasts are incredibly accurate nowadays. Not surprising really given the technology at their disposal. I even have a £40 electronic weather station in our house that is pretty damn reliable when it comes to forecasting weather for the next 4-8 hours.

[Snowball]

There is a bright side. We are still 1pt from 2 games rather than 1pt from 3!

Or we could have won and now be fifth in the table

[genome]

What was the score?

[royal_ross]

Got back to 'sunny' Slough at 9pm, utterly peeed off.

[just some bloke]

I once organized and brought a tour party of 6 Japanese fans of the Urawa Red Diamonds from Saitama, Japan all the way to Manchester for a pre-season Vodafone Cup game against United. A thunderstorm saw the game cancelled 15 minutes before kick-off. Cost them two grand each.

Sorry for the blatant one-upmanship here but nobody will ever top that.

[Tony Le Mesmer]

There comes a point when any drainage system is maxed out. Rainfall in this country has been on the up in the summer/autumn months over the last 5 years, and this year has been especially wet. Stadium of Light is known to be one of the more modern, "better" stadiums, so perhaps the rain was just that hard?

That said, Middlesbrough (not a million miles away) no problems there.

And on top of that, not the worst reason for a postponement today...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19304123

Fatal accident on the M11, the team coach was trapped until the road reoponed along with plenty of Orient fans as well. No excuse obviously.

[Royal Lady]

Tbf TLM, that is a rather different set of circumstances to a waterlogged pitch. A fatal car accident is completely unforeseen obviously.

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Just remarking on someone elses observation that it was an even worse way to call a game off when it was in fact completely unavoidable.

Anyway, back on topic, a really cant beleive people still think Sunderland are at fault. Just . someone even suggested it should have been called off earlier and not give the weather a chance to ease off. Feel sorry for those that wasted their journey, but shit happens im afraid.

So, do people still not recall us calling off a game 10 mins before kick off because it rained a bit too much? Of the fact we couldnt even complete a game v Leicester with our superb facilities that we should be so proud of? Think BMc has a right cheek saying it would have gone ahead at Reading in those circumstances given our track record.

[Snowball]

I once organized and brought a tour party of 6 Japanese fans of the Urawa Red Diamonds from Saitama, Japan all the way to Manchester for a pre-season Vodafone Cup game against United. A thunderstorm saw the game cancelled 15 minutes before kick-off. Cost them two grand each.

Sorry for the blatant one-upmanship here but nobody will ever top that.

Easy. I took two Koreans to see Newport County and the match, the worst 0-0 draw in the history of mankind, WASN'T called off.

[RoyalBlue]

Just remarking on someone elses observation that it was an even worse way to call a game off when it was in fact completely unavoidable.

Anyway, back on topic, a really cant beleive people still think Sunderland are at fault. Just . someone even suggested it should have been called off earlier and not give the weather a chance to ease off. Feel sorry for those that wasted their journey, but shit happens im afraid.

So, do people still not recall us calling off a game 10 mins before kick off because it rained a bit too much? Of the fact we couldnt even complete a game v Leicester with our superb facilities that we should be so proud of? Think BMc has a right cheek saying it would have gone ahead at Reading in those circumstances given our track record.

How many more times! The game against Leicester was played on the sodding 1st January - months of poor weather and a pitch that had already taken a tremendous hammering from football and rugby during the first part of the season! Very, very, different circumstances. And other games called off 10 minutes before kick off due to rain? I suspect Elm Park, a very, very different set up from the SOL!

Yesterday was 25th August and pitches should have been in their prime. I think only two senior professional games were called off due to rain yesterday. The other was at Adams Park (Wycombe certainly can't afford to spend a great deal of money on their pitch) and at least that got to 63 minutes before it became unplayable.

IMO (backed up by the urgent meeting being called with their pitch providers), Sunderland's new pitch was as much to blame as the weather for yesterday's postponement.

[JC]

There comes a point when any drainage system is maxed out. Rainfall in this country has been on the up in the summer/autumn months over the last 5 years, and this year has been especially wet. Stadium of Light is known to be one of the more modern, "better" stadiums, so perhaps the rain was just that hard?

That said, Middlesbrough (not a million miles away) no problems there.

And on top of that, not the worst reason for a postponement today...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19304123

The Middlesbrough point is not really relevant. Wycombes game yesterday was abandoned while I was in my garden in the sun - 12 miles away

[sputnik]

There is a bright side. We are still 1pt from 2 games rather than 1pt from 3!

GIFSoup

[floyd__streete]

Well, in a lifetime of murkings as a Reading FC supporter, our 2nd furthest game of the season being called off in August is right up there!

Was at Newcastle Central Metro when a text came through from Tony Le Mesmer. I knew there and then that the game would be called off, how many times do you hold an inspection for a game which eventually goes ahead? Not very often.

As Compo and I had train tickets back from Sunderland we took the Metro down there anyway and at all the suburban stops in between Newcastle and the SOL Sunderland fans boarded only to be told by us "game is off, lads". "Yoo Jockin'?" was the reply we got from the locals who turned out to be brilliant hosts in The Wheatsheaf pub when we had 3 and a half hours to kill.

Consequently, that 3 and a half hours, me panic-buying booze on the train home and Compo and I making a loud nuisance of ourselves in London on the way home led to me waking up in Reading rather than Twyford and having to flag down a £15 cab having been sick in my own mouth. I don't even want to check my wallet this morning as I think I will be sick when I see how much I have spent.

Would be nice to think that RFC would do something for those of us unlucky to have bought tickets and travelled to this match. A free coach up for the re-arranged? Don't be silly, they've blown the budget on song-sheets and clappers and they wouldn't countenance doing something for the average fan