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http://www.skysports.com/football/ne...f-postponement
Derby County are adamant they followed the correct procedures, and that they had all the necessary approvals from the authorities and emergency services when they postponed their match against Cardiff City at Pride Park on Sunday.
Neil Warnock called Derby's decision "a disgrace", and said he expected the game to be called off because Gary Rowett had a host of injury problems.
Sky Sports News understands Derby are angry at Warnock's comments, and the club rejects any suggestion that the postponement was made for any other reason than the health and safety of supporters.
Derbyshire police had already issued advice to everyone in the county not to travel on Sunday unless "absolutely necessary" when at 6.45am Derby's Stadium Safety Manager decided the areas around the ground were unsafe following heavy overnight snow.
At 7am, a Derby Director assessed the surrounding areas, agreed with the assessment and began making plans to postpone the game.
Derby say they had staff based at the stadium overnight, to prevent any pipes from bursting, and to clear the main car park areas. But they had a number of phone calls from stewards on Sunday morning, saying they couldn't get to the stadium because of the snow.
At 7:20am, Derby told the police Gold Match Commander they wanted to postpone the game, and a conference call was held with senior officers at the fire and ambulance service. Derby say all the emergency services were in agreement that the game should be called off. The decision was then ratified by the Safety Advisory Group.
Derby say Cardiff were informed of the decision around 8am, and the police announced the postponement at 8.15am before both clubs made statements to their supporters at 8.30am.
I am sure the police informed a CCFC Supporters' Club rep whilst coaches heading to Derby that the areas around Derby and pride park were clear and there were no safety issues. It does baffle me why the reasons and excuses are changing constantly.
Spedger
i) They're probably right but everyone loves a conspiracy theory
ii) Interesting that there is no mention of Sky in the statement
I watched Sky from around 6:30 until I left around 8am and they visited the ground several times and had outside cameras outside showing the car park & traffic moving freely. There was no indications in their reports that it was likely to be off, albeit prior to the 8:15am announcement.
So, if I have this right, a club only needs to get the Ambulance and Fire Brigade to agree a match should be called off? I presume they have to state reasons but it appears they don't need to provide evidence.
The Police have said it's not their decision but they may also have agreed. Sounds a little too cosy to me still, but there we are. I think that statement closes all the doors to an appeal.
I'm looking forward to Burton now - that'll be one heck of a match I reckon as Burton won't be coming to lie down...
Derby "told" the police they were postponing. So the police are correct in saying they weren't consulted. A small amount of snow that was due to melt, no attempt to clear it (apparently) and reliance on police view that no-one, anywhere in Derbyshire should travel in the day....but the club shop/pub/roads/parking areas were all clear and operative well before kick off. Maybe a few stewards didn't fancy the early start and "couldn't make it". Unlike the many CCFC supporters who made the effort. So, stadium manager and a director chose not to put the match on, knowing full well Derby had a long injury list (so do we). The pitch was fine.That's not conspiracy theory. Derby have failed to make the fixture happen, contrary to EFL regs, and need to be punished accordingly.
So Derbys stadium manager and a Derby County director decided (nice and early so it would be as cold as possible) the area around the stadium was unsafe, called the police to say they wanted to postpone, had a conference call with the fire brigade and ambulance, who agreed with Derbys decision. Neither the police match commander, fire brigade, ambulance (Sag) were at the stadium and therefore took DCFCs word for it.
The simple fact is that the decision was WRONG, the stadium area clearly wasn’t unsafe.
Any mention of match officials that did or didn`t turn up.Originally Posted by Barry Shitpeas
Wrong again DCFC. Derbyshire Police did not advise NO TRAVEL. I've checked their Twitter account. Their advice was to avoid unnecessary travel. I'd say getting to a major sporting event involves necessary travel. Again, DCFC have been found wanting in their unfit for purpose storyline. Their narrative doesn't match the reality of the situation.
Last edited by IanD; 19-03-18 at 17:39. Reason: Added to wrong post. Should go with OP
There is going to be a bit of heavy atmosphere at the re arranged game IMO. City have been mugged and there is nothing we can do about it. Derby took full advantage of the worse case scenario of the weather and situation. I hope Sunderland hammer them on the 30th March and drop them out of the play offs. Even if it means the Wurzels getting into the play offs.
Spedger
It’s the second attempt at trying to pull the wool (npi) over everyone’s eyes . They’re treating everyone like idiots.
Just saw this on SSN: EFL have asked for observations from both clubs in regard to postponed game on Sunday'
Spedger
they have been caught out havent they
They wanted the game called off due to injuries and that little snow helped them pull it of
But they are hardly going to say that, it is upto the EFL to look a little deeper and punish them, but of course they wont, they will not want them to appeal and it drag on and not know who is in the play-offs / Promoted to the greedy league
the EFL have showed themselves up over this
We have got any views we just move on and dont cause any unecessary aggro
Spedger
Yeah, they should just be allowed to get away with it for no reason. FFFS
"We want lessons to be learned, we want an apology for getting it wrong and we want Cardiff fans to be fully compensated. We also want the rearranged fixture to not be on April 17 as it would give our fans a run of three away fixtures in a row, which isn't fair."
Fair comment by Vince Alm. I’d be happy with this.
Good article that, we're getting close to a stage now where if the EFL continue to do nothing, they will, effectively, be given a licence to home teams to call off matches whenever things get mildly inconvenient for them - the whole thing looked fairly dodgy this time yesterday, now it's looking very dodgy.
Keep going County
https://www.oneboro.co.uk/forum/show...d=8624&page=72 Boro fans discussing it
Derby should change their club logo to:
Derby Cheats FC
Don't they say that an exaggerated level of detail is a good way to spot a liar?
So what were the safety advisory group smoking when Derby contacted them during the beast from the east?
"Lol go on put the game on, be a right slippy slidey laugh that will"
Indeed.
Yesterday it was effectively:
The postponement was decided by the 3 required parties: Derby County, Derbyshire Police, and the local SAG.
Today it's:
Derbyshire Police repeats that it had nothing to do with the decision, it was the club.
The SAG weren't party to the decision process, merely informed after the fact.
Leaving Derby County as the sole decision-maker...against all protocol.
If nothing happens, at least we and everyone else will know it’s ok to call a game off if you fancy it. The EFL dont appear to care. Looking at pictures if the ground, you can barely even see snow and the pitch looks like a spring day.
The whole integrity of the Championship has been called into question by the underhanded tactics of Derby. They should, but won't, be severely punished.
Also, conditions were expected to improve between the time they called the game off and kick off.
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