Thetownend.com

Just had a text, game off

http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10341~1548705,00.html

Glad they made the decision so early in the day.

Well done to all those fans who did their best to get the game on.

Oh for actual fucks sake. Thats fucking shit

From a selfish point of view, I'm pretty relieved. The roads here are sheet ice.

Didn't need another postponed game though, at this rate I'll be asking for every Tuesday off until May!!

6 nations it is then!

Pub it is then!

That's a bit shit.

But, pub it is.

Unfortunately me and mex had already set off but fair play to the shovellers and the ref for an early(ish) postponement

shit

had tickets for England today too but let them go

There was no chance in the game being on tbh.

"tbh" from everything i've read and heard over the last few days, there was a good chance it would be on! Otherwise they wouldnt have put all of the effort in that they did. So not sure how you can say "there was no chance"

Was thinking the exact same!  Axs wouldn't have gone down there prior to 8am just for te fun of it!

unless they rearange it for this tuesday the next available date is 17th march. it'll be two games a week for the next couple of months.

well that was fucking gay. got up to gatwick on the train and had to turn round. To all the people that helped out YOU FUCKING CUNTS FOR GETTING MY HOPES UP.

wankers.

Glad I got a ST now as otherwise affording the fixture pile up would be tricky.

Perhaps the club could do a promotion for discounted tickets if people buy say 3 at a time?

I know the unemployed offer is on but still!

With hindsight could it perhaps have been better to have left the snow on overnight, and attempted to get rid of the snow really early this morning?

It wasn't the pitch that was the problem Dave.

http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10341~1548724,00.html

back to bed then

I decided it wouldn't be on, so I stayed out a bit longer last night. Yay.

It was bound to be off, the board were a little silly in wasting so much time and effort in trying to fight the elements.  As soon as Rovers and other clubs decided to postpone their matches we should have followed suit.

Fair play to the fans who helped out though.

Would never have had time to do it all this morning.

Plus it would be completely iced over by now. That's got to be even worse to move.

Looking at the pictures on the official site, if you hover your mouse over them it gives a little caption...and some of them show people still shovelling the snow off at 10.30am this morning - over an hour after the game was called off.
I would have thought they would just give up and let it melt now....

they don't put the prices up for postponed games you know

I know what Luci means, it's the weekly cashflow problem, forking out for two matches a week, travelling twice a week, drinking eating out and enjoying yourself hurts the pocket more than a budgeted season ticket over a season.

They asked people to stay on and help clear it to minimise any damage done to the pitch by having covers on for too long.

I couldn't disagree more...this effort although ultimately futile has rekindled a bit of spirit in the club...long may it continue.

Something positive has come out of all this though. I don't mean the coming together, which is always pleasant, or the display of indomitable spirit  but the fact that without a game we still have something to bitch and squabble about in the finest tradition of the TEF. Which is nice.

He who knows everything saw that we would be like lost sheep so he gave us hope and purpose to help us through these days with our opinions not being like the seed that falls on stony ground.

Can you just feel the love?

And for those of you that can't ...

EAT SHIT AND DIE!

If it hadn't been for our hard working snow shovelling fans - sky sports news wouldn't have had any coverage this morning surrounding the weather!

The fact that Nick Watkins and Danny Wilson were our helping really impressed me - however if I had made it down then a snowball in the face for a laugh would have been likely. :D

Fair play !

Well its made my day, I was not looking forward to going to the game. A nightmare getting there (roads are still bad near me and even the main roads have bad patches), followed by 1.5 hours of watching shit football in the freezing cold followed by another nightmare trip home.

The fixtures are really piling up now. Other than the coming Tuesday there is only one free mid week slot until the end of March. Hopefully the Leyton Orient game will still be played today and they'll lose which will give us some more breathing space.

Its good they've managed to clear the snow from the pitch and are looking after it though. Will hopefully mean there won't be much damage to it and it will make it to the spring without being cut up too badly.

for pure selfish reasons i hate tuesday night fixtures cos its really hard for me to make cos of the single parent/ school night factors
On the other hand i think its good for those locals who enjoy going but work on saturdays!

I don't think I'm going to make many midweek games either. Oh well.

I'm afraid too many people have that attitude in this country these days and it is one of many reasons why it's going down the pan.

As has already been said, fair play to the club for having a go.

Agreed. We've come from a people who boarded boats and dingies to rescue soldiers trapped on enemy shores, to a bunch of whiners and moaners in 65 years. Shame.

it was never going to be on.taking the snow off when  -5 was forecast overnight,was stupid as the insulation the snow gave was then gone. the car park and paths leading to the ground are compounded ice and would have guaranteed people falling over in it.
it should have been called off early yesterday.

Miserable cunts you lot.

Ditto.

Tea and Digestives rule.

I wasnt going to go anyway but the whole people helping and stuff did make me feel kinda warm and fuzzy. I do wonder if God strying to stop me ever going again though,loads of games seem to have been changed to days im working,Ah well it gives me something to listen to on the Radio..  8)

but surely the money you don't spend on going to todays game you put to one side ready for the rearranged fixture

Being sensible, budgeting and saving....hmmmm.....let me think about that.

Nah Bollox, its saturday night

Budgeting for rent, bills etc. indeed but football isnt something I personally budget for - if I can afford it at the time I go and if not I don't.

The club and the volunteers gave it everything to get the game on.

I was just about to close our builders merchant and come down with shovels and brooms at 9am, but it was called off quite early.

Well done to everyone who cared that much to watch us play. Fuck all the boring pessimists.

why does seeing the obvious make someone boring,a pessimist,grumpy etc?

Agree fully with this.

Because English football was a lot better when fans thought anything was possible.

Stupider but a lot better.

I think that it was a brilliant move by the club getting supporters involved, even if the attempts were always pretty futile.

It might have only raised the chances of the game going ahead 1%, weather permitting and all that, yet it seems to have helped build up a bit of community around the club, something which has been lacking a bit of late.

Even with the "it didn't work" hindsight, I can't really see how it can be claimed a waste of time. Do you give up on something as soon as it looks likely to fail? We might as well not bother playing a team for half our games the rest of the season.

Not that I went to help of course. It was cold and I'm lazy.

Because who are you to say what the obvious is? At the end of the day, the club pay someone to look after the pitch who is obviously a professional at his job. If he says that there is a "chance" that the game is COULD be on if we do this, then people will listen to him and get behind him - we all wanted the game to be on.

it seemed obvious to me.i wanted the game on. instead of answering my question you ask one yourself though.not thinking something will happen doesn't = grumpy etc.

removing the snow yesterday seemed an odd decision.the groundsman was quoted in the adver about the snow keeping the frost out.only to have it removed before a night of -5 temperatures.
if people got a positive experience out of the clear up effort then it was worth it.

I was puzzled by the removal of the snow....but after looking at the pictures it seemed there was little choice, would of turned into ice blocks this morning.
Big respect to all those who helped out.

Slight over reaction there OST.

I'd say people instead of listening, and then agreeing with certain people need to take a step back apply some common sense and then draw their own conclusions.

Listening to RS yesterday the news, traffic and weather reports warning that the county was a logistical nightmare, keep off the roads unless it's vital, with a severe frost forecast, only to be followed by Nick Watkins come on and say we're doing everything we can, come down to the CG and help out was crazy.

If that's why you think this country's going down the pan, or others may think why we've gone from winning a world war to a nation of whingers (although I see no connection between the two) then fair enough, can't say I agree with that school of thought.

As I have already said fair play to the people who helped out, but deep down surely they all knew there was buckley's chance of the game being played?

Then fuck it. Lets be crazy.

Football was once crazy and mad. Now its all common sense and stating the bleeding boring obvious and not very exciting.

Fuck it.

WELL DONE CLUB!

Axs has already pointed it out - but there was no choice but to remove the snow when they did. It took fucking ages to clear, far longer than it looks like it would. I reckon 60% of the pitch was done in in the 6+ hours. And there were 100-150 odd people working on that (not all at the same time).

The covers should have been good for -3 to -4 shouldn't they.

It was always touch and go, And I reckon a degree or two warmer and it could easily have been game on.

But it wasn't and so the right decision was made early enough not to inconvenience most.

Are we going to have more Tuesday games than Saturday ones this year?!

i dont know to what degree covers work,but the surrounding areas of the county ground had already convinced me that the game wouldn't be played.
it's all well and good thinking back to the good old days, but we are dealing with here and now.peoples attitudes would have been different then,and rightly so.
maybe we should dig out our tin hats and have powdered egg?

You were proved right. Well done you.

Lets face it, it was pure genius by the club to get in free labour to clear the pitch. Everyone knew the game would be cancelled but the snow still had to be cleared to help keep the itch in a reasonable condition. I heard that cheap Portugese and Italian labourers were to be bought in good ol Fitton and co kept the British job for the British workers. What a guy that Fitton is.

I also didn't think the game would be played but I'm still glad the club tried everything to get the game on and impressed with those who were able to lend a hand. The club had advice from the ground staff (who have some experience in these matters as I understand it), the referee, the police and doubtless numerous Elf & Safety clipboards that as things stood on Friday there was a good chance the game could go ahead, so long as the pitch was cleared etc. Which as opinions go, counts for a damn sight more than me, arriba or janaage poking our heads out of our back doors and going "Nah, don't reckon". Under those circumstances, I'd far rather have a club that made every effort to get the game on, and fans willing to pitch in to help, than a bunch of no-marks who sit back and go "Fuck it, can't be bothered". And fair play they called it off early on this morning to prevent too many people having wasted journeys rather than dithering till mid-morning on the off-chance. I'm proud of our club and our fans for the effort and spirit shown.

So fuck off arriba you miserable sod ;)

Paul you hit the nail on the head with those comments, maybe our club isnt dead yet, now if we could clear the supporters trust off we would be sorted :)

wasn't tying to prove my point but thanks anyway(irony).sorry for not having the popular opinion on this issue,but i tell it how i see it.
although many were saying the game should be on whilst not going to work, i worked every night driving in the conditions and noted what was said by weather experts.i have not slated anyone for getting involved in the clear up attempt.just said from yesterday that it wouldn't be on and it should have been called off in the morning. my son and i wanted to take part in the clear up and on thursday had planned to,but the fact i was working 11-12 hours a night as my job was taking me longer, meant i needed to rest as i knew i'd be sent out in it again the following night to do a 300 mile round trip.
it has fuck all to do with being grumpy or negative,it was seeing it for what it was.

You're missing the point arriba. Read what I posted earlier - "common sense" may well have said the game wouldn't go ahead, but if all the people (ref, ground staff, police, H&S etc) say there's still a chance it can, what are the club supposed to do? They have to rely on the advice of those who have proven expertise in such matters and who they have a statutory/regulatory obligation to listen to.

Fair play to all involved - a big gamble that didn't pay off - but it could of. Yes the odds were stacked against it but they gave it a crack. On recent form on the pitch the odds are stacked against us but we're giving it a crack.
I think this shows balls. Give up before you start or start by knowing the chances aren't great but that there is a chance.
I think it also shows the club is winning back the hearts and mids of supporters.

To be fair, I Think it was a close call, in hindsight with the bit of sun we had most of yesterday, The main roads getting to the ground and car park were all clear, I think it could have still gone a head a 3pm, however the referee had to make a decision early and on the side of caution, based on conditions in the morning with a fair bit still to clear off the pitch.

I went down and cleared some snow Friday evening and yesterday morning and don't regret trying.



 

I thought that as a shaded spot in my garden that was rock hard in the morning was soft without the sun!   However you cannot gamble with stuff like that.....at least the pitch wont be water logged now?

Well done mate for giving it a go,feel very sorry for the Club and fans who tried their best.As Chalkie
says,it's brought about a reconnection between the fans and the club.Long may that continue.

missed this post last night as i went to bed paul.anyway,i dont think i missed the point and know what you are saying.the advice from weather experts that i heard, was only to travel if journeys were completely necessary.also the sub zero weather forecast for friday night was known well in advance, and was of no surprise.i have no idea what the police etc thought,but they would have been advised by the weather forecasters anyway same as everyone else.i think the club tried their best to ignore what was said in weather reports in hope of the game being played.
i'm not knocking people for getting involved in the clear up,i'm sure it brought fans and staff together and that's positive.but i do think the club were overly hopefull and this rubbed off on fans too.(not a bad thing i suppose)

Roads were fine and they were fine all the way home from Essex as well. Don't know anything about what the car park or the pitch was like, except from second hand accounts. Given that there was still half a pitch to clear after 6 hours of trying I thought it would freeze over and be even more difficult to move.

Got to say I was impressed to hear that Wilson and Watkins got stuck in and well done to all the fans who gave it a go.