Forest Green scorefred sponsored by... MATCH POSTPONED

[pemill]

Hindsight is hindsight… but considering how little rain we’ve had since the pitch inspection and how quickly it dried up around the stadium this morning, we quite clearly could have played today and it would have been absolutely fine. At least we’ll have a pristine pitch next weekend whereas half of the EFL will be playing on a cabbage patch for the rest of the season.

For all those who have seen the pitch and say it is playable, how far were your feet sinking in when you walked on it?
My guess is you were looking through the fence seen Green grass but not able to see any water and mud.

My garden was a pond yesterday and the water for all intent and purposes has disappeared when I look out of the window but when you get out there and walk on it the reality is, it is still a pool of water.

[pemill]

For those who looked at the weather warnings for rain over the passed few days, it was a relatively narrow band which started just below us and went up the country. In league 2 we are the only club in that band of sustained heavy rain, hence ours being the only game to be called off.

[stagone1959]

Clippo's pitch was fine today,ball ran true,bounce was fine and pitch didn't cut up

[Cleveland_Stag]

Hindsight is hindsight… but considering how little rain we’ve had since the pitch inspection and how quickly it dried up around the stadium this morning, we quite clearly could have played today and it would have been absolutely fine. At least we’ll have a pristine pitch next weekend whereas half of the EFL will be playing on a cabbage patch for the rest of the season.

For all those who have seen the pitch and say it is playable, how far were your feet sinking in when you walked on it?
My guess is you were looking through the fence seen Green grass but not able to see any water and mud.

My garden was a pond yesterday and the water for all intent and purposes has disappeared when I look out of the window but when you get out there and walk on it the reality is, it is still a pool of water.

The pitch will have had more than enough time to properly drain before the match I think. It barely rained at all after the pitch inspection.

And as has just been stated above, Clipstone played at home today I think everyone involved in the decision to postpone it today will, in hindsight, now say that the game could have easily been played. Think the stuff about the pitch getting ‘ruined’ if we played on it today is a bit of an excuse to be honest.

[Rob]

Why on earth wouldn't we want to play? These conspiracy theories are nonsense, ref called it off not us, pitch wasn't fit, there were concerns about fan safety and he made the early call to save FGR travelling. It really is that simple.

[bigalstag1]

What this postponement does confirm, is that all the drainage work, and money spent on, over the last 5 years , has been a complete waste. If the pitch can't cope in October, what's it going to be like in deepest winter. Might as well have spent it on the playing staff.

[cassellswasmagic]

What this postponement does confirm, is that all the drainage work, and money spent on, over the last 5 years , has been a complete waste. If the pitch can't cope in October, what's it going to be like in deepest winter. Might as well have spent it on the playing staff.

Yeah let’s not forget a once in 25 year amount of rainfall for Mansfield.

[Cleveland_Stag]

Forecast for Harrogate is saying there’s gonna be about 22 straight hours of rain before it kicks off on Tuesday night… really can’t be doing with that being called off too

[The One]

What happens if it rains towards end of next week It is winter you know

Its autumn

[Gruff]

Not playing on a heavy pitch and risking injuries should be seen as a blessing, in my opinion.

[The Hoffmeister]

Not playing on a heavy pitch and risking injuries should be seen as a blessing, in my opinion.

Bless 'em.
Can't play on a bit of a frosty surface
Can't play on a nice soft spongy surface.

Only perfection for our boys nowadays

[Bradders]

Why on earth wouldn't we want to play? These conspiracy theories are nonsense, ref called it off not us, pitch wasn't fit, there were concerns about fan safety and he made the early call to save FGR travelling. It really is that simple.

It's not about "conspiracy theories". Clearly the pitch was going to be wet at 9 a.m., but nobody is saying that we were going to play at that time. It's pretty obvious that it would have been safe to play on by lunchtime, and a confirmation inspection around 1 would have given the go-ahead without a doubt. There were no issues of fan safety in the area. Anyone could drive or walk anywhere in Mansfield all day, at least after 9. River levels were normal, and the forecast was for light rain dying out.

Should an unexpectedly big downpour have waterlogged the pitch for the afternoon, it would have been a bit annoying for some fans to have to return home, but not a big deal considering that the actual postponement will have caused a lot of inconvenience.

So no wonder that we believe the groundsman when he broadly hinted that we didn't want to play, so as to keep the pitch from cutting up.

I'm perfectly fine about the decision, but with no match to talk about, why not try and understand how the decision was made? Can a ref really judge "fan safety" on the approaches to the ground? Does he consult the groundsman and take into account his opinion? Or is the ref just asked for an prediction of pitch suitability in six hours time?

[scotsstag]

I think that Mez infers that the ref may have deemed it potentially playable, but as it was marginal gave the casting vote to the groundsman.
Had the club been desperate to play, he'd have sacrificed the pitch. But we already have two matches this week, so an early postponement isn't a big deal and means that we still have a pristine surface going forward.

Does the groundsman seriously get a vote as wether or not to play a professional football match?
If so I didn't know that.

[pemill]

I have a solution, let's play all our home games in Clipstone from now on, pitch is always playable to L2 standard

[bobbystagsfan]

Why on earth wouldn't we want to play? These conspiracy theories are nonsense, ref called it off not us, pitch wasn't fit, there were concerns about fan safety and he made the early call to save FGR travelling. It really is that simple.

Well said.

This always happens when we have a postponed game. Some folk just aren't happy with whatever theyre told.

If the game was on and one of our players was injured they'd be screaming it should never have been on in the first place!

[yorkstag]

Hindsight is hindsight… but considering how little rain we’ve had since the pitch inspection and how quickly it dried up around the stadium this morning, we quite clearly could have played today and it would have been absolutely fine. At least we’ll have a pristine pitch next weekend whereas half of the EFL will be playing on a cabbage patch for the rest of the season.

For all those who have seen the pitch and say it is playable, how far were your feet sinking in when you walked on it?
My guess is you were looking through the fence seen Green grass but not able to see any water and mud.

My garden was a pond yesterday and the water for all intent and purposes has disappeared when I look out of the window but when you get out there and walk on it the reality is, it is still a pool of water.

The pitch will have had more than enough time to properly drain before the match I think. It barely rained at all after the pitch inspection.

And as has just been stated above, Clipstone played at home today I think everyone involved in the decision to postpone it today will, in hindsight, now say that the game could have easily been played. Think the stuff about the pitch getting ‘ruined’ if we played on it today is a bit of an excuse to be honest.

If we could have played we would have.

[oldweststander]

I'm all for opinions, long ay we all have them, but the reasoning behind some of the comments is plain stupid.

It did rain several tines after the game was called off and BBC Weather was predicting heavy shower throughout the day, none of us actually walked on the pitch, but don't worry Clipstone FC played.

I would imagine Nigel and the club wanted to play but with an eye on the future and with due consideration re our passing style, he wouldn't want us playing on a ploughed field week after week.

Get a grip.

[Martin Shaw]

Does the groundsman seriously get a vote as wether or not to play a professional football match?
If so I didn't know that.

no

[Rob]

I think that Mez infers that the ref may have deemed it potentially playable, but as it was marginal gave the casting vote to the groundsman.
Had the club been desperate to play, he'd have sacrificed the pitch. But we already have two matches this week, so an early postponement isn't a big deal and means that we still have a pristine surface going forward.

Does the groundsman seriously get a vote as wether or not to play a professional football match?
If so I didn't know that.

No he doesn't, the ref will speak to the groundsman about drainage, damaged areas etc, but he most definitely does not get a "vote". I've done plenty of pitch inspections and the most important issue is the safety of players and spectators, any doubts, it's off, after all if it goes pear shaped the refs forrit! My advice to young refs was always to call it off if you had any safety concerns, it's only a game.

[Dave Wayne]

Why on earth wouldn't we want to play? These conspiracy theories are nonsense, ref called it off not us, pitch wasn't fit, there were concerns about fan safety and he made the early call to save FGR travelling. It really is that simple.

It's not about "conspiracy theories". Clearly the pitch was going to be wet at 9 a.m., but nobody is saying that we were going to play at that time. It's pretty obvious that it would have been safe to play on by lunchtime, and a confirmation inspection around 1 would have given the go-ahead without a doubt. There were no issues of fan safety in the area. Anyone could drive or walk anywhere in Mansfield all day, at least after 9. River levels were normal, and the forecast was for light rain dying out.

Should an unexpectedly big downpour have waterlogged the pitch for the afternoon, it would have been a bit annoying for some fans to have to return home, but not a big deal considering that the actual postponement will have caused a lot of inconvenience.

So no wonder that we believe the groundsman when he broadly hinted that we didn't want to play, so as to keep the pitch from cutting up.

I'm perfectly fine about the decision, but with no match to talk about, why not try and understand how the decision was made? Can a ref really judge "fan safety" on the approaches to the ground? Does he consult the groundsman and take into account his opinion? Or is the ref just asked for an prediction of pitch suitability in six hours time?

I'm sure the Forest Green team and fans would have loved being told it was on at 9am, then a 'confirmation inspection' at 1pm calling it off.
The ref has to make the decision based on what he can see at the time and what the forecasts are. It was still raining at 9 and more was forecast.

[scotsstag]

I think that Mez infers that the ref may have deemed it potentially playable, but as it was marginal gave the casting vote to the groundsman.
Had the club been desperate to play, he'd have sacrificed the pitch. But we already have two matches this week, so an early postponement isn't a big deal and means that we still have a pristine surface going forward.

Does the groundsman seriously get a vote as wether or not to play a professional football match?
If so I didn't know that.

No he doesn't, the ref will speak to the groundsman about drainage, damaged areas etc, but he most definitely does not get a "vote". I've done plenty of pitch inspections and the most important issue is the safety of players and spectators, any doubts, it's off, after all if it goes pear shaped the refs forrit! My advice to young refs was always to call it off if you had any safety concerns, it's only a game.

Thanks.

[Richard Cranium]

Are we still falling out about whether it should have gone ahead or not?

[DoomMerchant]

If whining fans got you points we'd be World Club Champions several seasons running
.

[WoodhouseStag]

If Clough wanted it on, it’s a shame the game didn’t go ahead, if not, I’m happy it was off.

Either way I don’t really care, there’s more to life than football and we play on Tuesday.

[Dan]

Are we still falling out about whether it should have gone ahead or not?

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