That’s slippery conditions at Portman Road lead to poor public relations by Simon Clegg!
I was looking forward to football after my holiday and even though the recent snow was still hanging about the game was never in doubt! The pitch had been covered all week by the “bubble” along with the hot air blowers running 24/7 so therefore I assumed the match would go ahead. With temperatures reportedly dropping as low as minus 13 degrees in the Ipswich area overnight a pitch inspection was arranged for 11.15 am, a formality surely? The game was given the go ahead with the proviso of a second inspection at 2pm as there were concerns over a small area of the pitch which could be dealt with by the ground staff, just a formality, no problem.
It was a bright, sunny afternoon and to be honest it didn’t really feel that cold as we headed for Portman Road dressed with plenty of layers on, including non flattering thermals.
There were over 20,000 in the ground, the club had a cheap ticket offer for the game, £20 a ticket for adults, to attract a few more people in. Although it wasn’t a huge success, a week of snow and freezing temperatures may well have put people off and also Middlesborough are hardly a magnet!
The game was fairly uneventful apart from Daryl Murphy’s lost range shot hitting the bar. Boro fielding a weakened side due to injuries looked jaded following their midweek FA Cup replay with Sunderland (which they lost 2-1 after extra time) and frankly uninterested. When referee Dean Whitestone decided to abandon the game after 37 minutes due to the touch line alongside the Britannia Stand freezing over they didn’t seem overly bothered and in my opinion the blues were heading for a third straight win.
There was incessant booing from all corners of the ground following Whitestone’s decision and his subsequent refusal to speak to the media only added to the fans anger. His actions have brought with it the possibility of another PR disaster for Simon Clegg, with fans already demanding free admission to the rearranged match he told Radio Suffolk and the press that league rules state a 50% reduction for such events and indicated that the clubs hands may be tied by this, which caused even more outrage.
On Monday he announced that the game will be replayed on March 27th and that fans who bought tickets for the original fixture could get in for between £5 & £10 justifying it with the fact that it costs a lot of money to stage a football match!
I think that the club are being very short sighted bearing in mind that this was a “tempt fans back to Portman Road” exercise, and as somebody pointed out on the “moan in“ if your bus breaks down you don’t then pay another fare on the replacement. Had the game originally been postponed at 11.15am the costs of restaging it would still be the same as an abandonment, at least by starting the match the club had the opportunity to serve all the corporate food instead of binning it! I also understand that Boro are paying for their fans tickets and coach travel for the March game.
Will ME & SC change their minds and avert bad PR at PR? I’d be surprised.
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