Fans should chill out about postponements

With the country gripped in the midst of what has come to be officially known as “the big freeze”, football has taken a back seat and us English folk have been given the opportunity to enjoy two of our other favourite pastimes: moaning about the weather, and moaning about travelling. 

And what fine voice we have been in too. Our airports have pulled the shutters down and quashed the dreams of those wishing to spend Christmas Day in the sun; many of our roads remain no-go zones for vehicles other than snow ploughs; and our trains have lived up to expectations and ground to a halt either just before, or just beyond the platform we are waiting at. 

But whilst few of us are surprised that the weather has caused travel chaos aplenty, many seem less willing to accept that the majority of Premier and Football League games were unable to be played this weekend. One newspaper reporter on Sunday recalled how in years gone by, fans would arrive at the ground early to clear away the snow and paint blue pitch markings. The games would go ahead with minimal fuss, and that was even before undersoil heating was a fixture at English grounds.

Many have argued that football clubs, together with the police and local authorities, were over-cautious and too eager to trot out the health and safety line before cancelling their fixtures this weekend. There may of course be some truth in that, but whatever their reasoning, the football clubs that did postpone their matches this weekend made the right move. 

I say this not as a fully paid up member of the fun police, but as someone who would delight in listing a thousand things he would rather be doing than sitting outside for two hours, watching football whilst the temperature fails to get above freezing. 

I take nothing away from the fans that did make it to matches this weekend - especially those West Ham supporters who made it to Blackburn - in fact I applaud their dedication. I just don’t personally consider watching football in freezing conditions a pleasurable experience, and admit that I would probably have made my excuses and stayed in the comfort of my own flat had West Ham been playing at home this weekend. That may be sacrilege to some, but I'm not about to justify my love for the club by sacrificing my nose to frostbite.

Clubs also have a responsibility to visiting fans who may be caught up in traffic or rails delays as a result of the snow. Manchester United were due in London this weekend to play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and had that game have been called off following a lunchtime pitch inspection rather than on Saturday, thousands of United fans would have been marooned in London and facing treacherous journeys back to Surrey, sorry, Manchester.

It’s not often I say this about professional football clubs in England, but in the main I feel common sense prevailed this weekend. The travel situation was appalling, and temperatures far from conducive to a pleasant viewing experience. 

Fans in Germany, where a full Bundesliga programme was played, may well disagree and believe football clubs in England should prepare better for such conditions. It’s also true that many other countries are also set up to cope with freezing temperatures and widespread snow much better than ourselves. 

For example, I recall once sitting in a rural Norwegian airport watching a blizzard in full flow wondering if we were ever going to get home. A small army of staff then took to the runway area to clear a path for take-off, before dousing our plane with what I can only assume was some kind of liquidised grit. Ten minutes later we were ready to depart and that was typical of our weekend; when public services ran without delay despite constantly arctic weather. That said, I also recall paying £8 for a pint and £12 for Burger King on that same trip, so it’s not all plain sailing for the Norwegians.

But countries such as Germany and Norway have the infrastructure in place to cope with the kind of weather we are currently having because they have this weather every year. Sub-zero temperatures are expected throughout their winters, whilst here they remain the exception. For those countries, not investing in public services to deal with the weather is not an option: the country would be in chaos for months on end. 

Here, it’s unlikely that snow will still be on our streets come the end of February like it will be there. If it is and our football programme manages to soldier on, you’ll find me hanging out with Jeff Stelling and the cast of Soccer Saturday, safe in the warmth of my local public house.