Could do without this Dam rain, Pitch is already soft we need this game to be on ? Very hard to pick a team for this one ! is Rob Hopley fit ? have any loan players gone back ? I would guess at :
Firth
Gardner, Williams, Ellison, Dawson
Menagh, Reeves, Schofield, Andrews
Hopley, Titchener
Subs : Salmon, Matthews, Brewster, Hughes, Bainbridge.
Score I will go with 2-1 for the Albs if not a little nervously.
Williams? Correct me C.J. but you’re probably thinking of Michael Wilson.
yep correct, its getting harder to remember the teams we change that often, should have checked.
A message from the Groundstaff.
The pitch is fine at the moment but they have forecast rain overnight. If anyone can spare any time in the morning to assist them, it will be greatly appreciated. There will be someone at the ground from 9am.
Saturday sees Witton in Evo-Stik League action when they welcome basement- club New Mills to The NetDec Stadium. The Millers have had an horrendous start to the season and are still searching for their first points of the current campaign but, Witton will be fully aware of the threat they pose and will certainly not be taking the visitors lightly. After two weeks of inactivity, Albion will be looking to climb further away from the lower reaches of the table but this game will be no different than any other and any result will have to be earned. Kick off at The NetDec Stadium is 3pm.
WITTON ALBION,
THE NETDEC STADIUM,
CHAPEL STREET,
WINCHAM
NORTHWICH,
CW9 6DA.
Parking: The Car Park is past the Social Club on the right.
Admission Prices: Adults £9, Concessions £6, Students £4, Under 15s (Admitted FREE with WAITC “Kids Go Free” Season Tickets).
Matchday Programme: £2
Social Club: The Social Club is open from 12noon and the Matchday Kitchen within the Social Club serving hot food will be open from 1pm onwards - including Fish, Chips & Peas - £4.95.
Social Club Access: Before the game, the Social Club is accessible by way of the main entrance ONLY. From half time onwards the Social Club is accessible from inside the stadium via a passageway within the main stand. Alcohol is permitted inside the stadium but MUST be in a plastic beaker.
Please note: As the Social Club is now a full-time food preparation area, dogs are not permitted inside the building - with the exception of assistance dogs (hearing & visually impaired).
I guess with all the overnight rain there may be a pitch inspection planned, any news on it yet ?
The indication from Andrew Simpson is that it’s ON. That could change though on the match official’s decision.
Midfielder Sam Hughes has returned to Chester after his loan spell. Jon Dawson is unavailable.
with an hour to go we must know ! is the game on or off ?
Game off.
MATCH POSTPONED - Due to a Waterlogged Pitch.
What was the reason for the very late decision?
I was on the bar Friday night and was told then that any rain on Saturday would make the pitch unplayable so seeing as it pissed it down all morning it was obvious the game would be off so why did we not arrange an earlier pitch inspection as we have done a couple of times already this season?
All the players, officials and a fair number of supporters were inside the stadium when the game was called off at 2pm and things like this make us look unprofessional, fair enough if it was touch and go but we knew hours in advance there was very little chance of the game going ahead
I agree 100% with the previous post. I looked on the website at about 2pm before making my way to the game and there was no mention of the game being called off. So I and other people in my car along with all the other fans that turned up were surprised to see the game called off. Please Witton get your act together, I have been a Witton fan for over 50 years and am now becoming disillusioned with this once proud foot ball club. I am beginning to think is it worth bothering with the way us fans are being treated. I do not want to turn my back on the club, like some fans have done already, but if things continue in this way it will happen.
A bit harsh AF.
The ground staff worked all morning on the to get it playable and I suspect that if the rain had eased when the ref made his inspection the game would have been on.
The fact that it was throwing it down at the time, I think, pushed the ref to call off the game on the basis that the pitch would deteriorate. He cited health and safety concerns for players and officials for his reason to call the game off.
Everyone there was disappointed with the decision, not least the New Mills officials who said our pitch was still better at 2pm than the last time they played on their own ground !.
Given the amount of rain that fell after 2pm, the ref was probably right.
The decision was definitely the right one as i walked to the ground at 4 30pm from town to work on the bar and wss absolutely drenched.
For me we need the pitch to be right for the 2 big Xmas games, Warrington at home on Boxing day followed by Vics away :side: on the 28th
From my times over the years as Football Secretary, organizing a pitch inspection has always been a catch 22 situation.
The main concerns are organizing a pitch inspection early enough, before the opposition set off, as you have to pay their travelling expenses once they set off (could be £400-£500 for a coach from the North-East. This can be as early as 08:30am when playing teams far off like Scarborough. It could be argued that the Scarborough game was called off too early, as by 14:30, most people felt the pitch was playable. However, by 15:30, most people were grateful it had been called off, as the weather worsened.
On Saturday, I was at the ground at 13:30, and thanks to some tremendous work by the ground staff, most people thought the pitch was just about playable, and the rain was only light. However, by the time the match referee turned up and started his pitch inspection at approx. 13:45, the heavens opened up. The referee waited to see if the weather improved, but it didn’t, and so to everybody’s disappointment, he called the game off for safety reasons at 14:00.
Unfortunately, when deciding on an early pitch inspection, it is one of those “dammed if you do”, “dammed if you don’t” type of decisions.
I aqua-planed all the way from Burtonwood with little hope of the game being played,we had to leave it late and i had a pint in the bar,a little chat with some club officials,went home,got changed and done a night shift in Widnes,now i do have reason to complain.
It is not very often that I come on to the club website but I feel that the ground staff need to need to put forward their position on the subject of pitch inspections. Firstly we are well aware of the implications of having a match postponed for what ever reason whether it be financial or the problems it causes to the away team and our own supporters, and secondly we can only apologise to those of you who were badly inconvenienced by the late call last Saturday. Thatched Tavern has indicated the problems we face, but with regard to last week no blame should be directed at our board / management as I spoke with the match secretary on the Friday and in my opinion at that time any early inspection the following day would have resulted in the referee ruling the pitch playable.
We were both aware of the projected weather forecast for the following day but the pitch could have stood some rain and still have been playable. In actual fact the rain started a little earlier than expected, approx. 7am, but having been at the ground working from just past 8am the pitch still remained playable, all morning despite the rain. At approx. 10am we spoke to our match secretary updating her of the state of the pitch, and I understand that she advised others of the position.
All morning, with parts of the pitch covered by our frost sheets, we were able to protect areas prone to water-logging and continued to help other areas by spiking to prevent surface water. By this late time no referee would have been available for a pitch inspection and we therefore had to wait for the official match referee. On his arrival at approx. 1-30 pm the pitch conditions had deteriorated but he continued to test and appraise the problem areas for nearly half an hour during which time OUR LITTLE BAND OF HELPERS continued to take off surface water from the pitch covers. At 2pm he decided to call off the match and it was only at that time the pitch had started to accumulate surface water in certain places. This was mainly caused by a period of rain heavier than previously encountered. Our thanks go out to the referee and his officials for their time and deliberations.
Whatever the rights and wrongs were, the most significant factor was the lack of help from supporters who may have made a difference. Not all is wrong at our club and there are many positives, but continual moaning brings down our morale, so many thanks to that LITTLE BAND OF HELPERS but we look forward to seeing more of you next time.
This little rant hopefully will indicate the efforts being put in on your behalf and once again our apologies to all affected.
A very interesting and informative post by Witton Widow. I think it puts the facts out there as to all the various considerations and the balancing act the ground staff and match officials have. To the naked untrained eye I think some supporters think a decision is black and white. Why would Witton call a game off at 2pm unless there are some more complex factors at play. To jump on the negative bandwagon is self for filling. Negativity breads negativity. From my all be it distant on look I see a club with a hell of a lot of positives. One of the best pitches in non league and a social club becoming a go to destination in the town. Looked great from the pics last weekend. Transfer all this to the team (the hard part) and it’ll come good? :clap
Spot on WW and WE, we need to put past issues behind us and move on, support the club and help it Move on -up the leagues. UTA