Crawley game off >>>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[chris blanc]

Didn't look on here before I left and went down to the game. Loads of people standing outside wondering what the hell was going on. No signs saying the game had been called off, floodlights on, just no one there at 7.40. People weren't happy, sure this did the club's PR no end of good

[Ian_D]

Quote:

chris blanc (GN said:
Didn't look on here before I left and went down to the game. Loads of people standing outside wondering what the hell was going on. No signs saying the game had been called off, floodlights on, just no one there at 7.40. People weren't happy, sure this did the club's PR no end of good

Just the point I was coming on to make, after exactly the same happening to me.

All that was needed was a single piece of paper on a door but it seemed too much to ask.

Quite pissed off

[James GNFC]

Were doing a Newcastle call the game off then go out onto the affected Pitch and start a Session of Training on it!!!

 

Do agree not good!

[Guest]

Quote:

Andrewc said

Don't you just love a smart alec !

The Club is experimenting with Friday nights because of the falling numbers on Saturdays.

I can see the logic behind having a night game on 30th December instead of the afternoon of the 31st when many people will be looking to make the most of a 'new year weekend' travelling to relatives, parties etc during the day on new years eve.

It remains to be seen whether the Friday night experiment will work during the middle part of January though. That said, the Club should not be criticised for at least giving it a try and investigating all possibilities of increasing the home attendances.

Well if that's how customers get treated it isn't surprising that attendances are falling. It wasn't raining after 5pm so if it was necessary to call it off at 6.15 then either the club weren't on the ball or the ref must have left his white stick at home.

[Ian_D]

I would guess probably a mix of both... with devastating consequences.

 

Feel gutted for the fans who made the trip.

 

Sort it Out GNFC

[Vera]

Do we really know who is to blame for us not knowing sooner? Perhaps I am too easy going but I can think of far worse things going on around me than missing out on a football match, for which we had paid £7 taxi fare to get to but I can still count my blessings and in the past we used to get used to arriving at the ground only to find 'match off'. One member of our family drove home all the way from Exeter to see an evening match against Margate, only to get to the ground and find it was off due to a water logged pitch. Fortunately there was no internet then to have a moan on. Sorry if some of you feel like having a go at me for accepting things too easily but I won't be able to see your comments as I shall be away for a week, but I wish you all a happy new year anyway.

[Stu M]

I agree with you Vera, some people must just spend their time moaning for a living. Even top professional outfits (Newcastle) get this one wrong from time to time, and all football clubs leave decisions on postponement as long as possible if there's a fair chance the game will go ahead. In the end, it's down to a referee whose decision may be based on nothing else than his opinion that the pitch is unfit.

 

Of course fans (especially away ones) have a right to be feeling ar$ed off with the decision, but it's not a GNFC problem... it's the weather, coupled with a match referee's decision this late in the day, with an element of poor communication. Why don't we wait to see whose idea it was not to have an inspection before we all moan and point the finger.

[Alan W (GNFC)]

I dashed out after getting home from a local Panto, with 2 kids in tow, with the aim of seeing just the second half - I didnt think a postponement a possibility - still gave the kids a bit of exercise and a train journey which they always enjoy !

[Ian_D]

Quote:

ian@thefleet said:Sort it Out GNFC

Quote:

Stu M said:
Of course fans (especially away ones) have a right to be feeling ar$ed off with the decision, but it's not a GNFC problem... it's the weather, coupled with a match referee's decision this late in the day, with an element of poor communication.

I think most people will look back on some of their posts after calming down a little including myself.

I have taken in both Vera and Stu's very valid points... but I still go on with my original quote of Sort it Out GNFC. But I must stress I mean it (although I dont think I did at the time of writing) toward the people who couldn't sort out (for example) printing a few bits of paper to put on the doors sayin 'Game is off due to waterlogged pitch, sorry for any inconvenience' etc and generally letting all the fans who don't come onto the forum know the game is off.

[JimGNFC]

Quote:

Alan W (GNFC) said:
I dashed out after getting home from a local Panto, with 2 kids in tow

In true Panto tradion - you could have asked them if the game was on or not before you left! Oh Yes it is! Oh No its not! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

[Guest]

hi to everyone that is on this forum as I am new here, I got to the ground at about 7 20 and there was a couple of stewards outside the car park telling people that the game was off and all I can think of if they actually had a training session instead of the game is that the pitch was probably ok in places as there is a world of difference between a light training session and a full bloodied league game. Never the less it was still a pisser as I was expecting the lads to bounce back after the boxing day debacle.

[kmj]

I'm not sure where you were at 5pm Simon, but it was definitely still raining hard in Gravesend at that time and also until after 6pm.

The absence of a sign up outside the ground apart, I can't see how the Club can be said to be at blame for the weather and the postponement.

It isn't unreasonable for the Club to explore possible ways to increase attendances and revenue, although I personally feel that Friday evening games will not prove to be the answer. We were about 500 customers adrift from the next worse attendance on Boxing Day which was very worrying, but I can't see that number being made up during a winter evening. One way in which evening games instead of Saturday afternoons will prove unprofitable, is in relation to sponsorship. My employer was to have sponsored the Canvey Island game but had to switch this to an available Saturday match when it was decided to play them on a Friday. As the sponsorship package involves a lunch for guests etc this clearly isn't possible when the fixture is an evening game. So my employer's sponsorship was moved to the next available Saturday game v Hereford on the 4th February. However as this is also an FA Trophy date and the Fleet could be drawn away (assuming we reach the 3rd round!), this has also had to be moved to a game in April. I mention this as evening kick offs and the sponsorship the Club wish to encourage do not go hand in hand.

[Mighty Fleet]

Having now kicked the cat and shouted all the way home I feel I can calmly place a reply.

 

I'm not one to moan, but tonight left me questioning why. I'm from Gravesend, but now live away, so every home game is a round trip of 90 miles. So with weather being more than slightly dodge, I rang GNFC at 5.30 to check if the game was on. Guy said no problems at all, pitch a ok!

 

When I turned up outside a group of bemused fans were milling about the turnstiles, no stewards anywhere. After a few minutes I rang the club and asked why the gates weren't open. The responce was "They wouldn't be, the game's off". No sorry, just some rude women blaming the ref.

I pointed out that the club had a responsibility to atleast put up a sign, but apparently that wasn't her job!

Yes I was pissed that I'd spent an hour driving to get there after checking, but what really winds me up is the way the club handled it, no info, no apologies, no thought of the fans. And they wonder why attendanes are dropping! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/bawling.gif" alt="" />

[Nols1974]

With the amount of rain and the fact that everybody on here was questioning wether the game would be on the club could've got the ref in early or done an inspection mid afternoon . The longer the day went on it just had the feeling of a game waiting to be called off .

[Guest]

Your club are a bunch of donuts!!

 

Sitting in the pub after ever half hour from 3:00 asking if the game is on and the reply was

 

"Definatly on"

 

I don't know what that means to you but that means that the game WILL happen!!!

 

Sort it out....like i said your club staff are a bunch of donuts. Not looking forward to coming back to the pikey land that is Gravesend.

[Stu M]

Quote:

CTFC Lad said:
Your club are a bunch of donuts!!
Sort it out....like i said your club staff are a bunch of donuts. Not looking forward to coming back to the pikey land that is Gravesend.

It's easy to feel sorry for the Crawley fans who made the trip.... until they make these sort of comments. To the rest of you, commiserations. To this bloke, what else did you expect from pikeys like us, eh?

Nols1974: as something of a ref yourself as I understand, do you know what the process would have been and who had the responsibility for pitch inspections? A qualified view might shut up those who haven't the faintest idea what they're banging on about.

[UP FLEET]

I've had it on good authority that the ref was in the tunnel, the managers wanted it, but the ref said the weather is in for the night ,so called it off. [****!!****]!

[Nols1974]

The club can call for an inspection any time of the day as long as there is someone qualified . This can cost extra as you pay mileage for the inspection .

As a ref your looking for player safety if its frozen or whether it would be a farce if its wet . It's easy enough for both clubs to say they want to play but come the end of the game the blame normally only comes one way !

As I said earlier it had the feel of an abandonment . Not saying this is the case but you do get clubs waiting for the match referee rather then calling someone in as its puts the pressure on the Ref to play as he's already travelled . Had that this season where I've got to Lewes just for the ref to call it off , where it was obviously never going to be on all morning.

[Gordon T]

to be fair to the club they havent done too much wrong here in my honest opinion.

In my understanding it is the "match ref" who decides whether the game is on or not. So if he doesn't get there and check before 6.10 then its hardly the clubs fault.

 

Seems to me that in this situation the club can't win....

But then again does the club ever please anyone anymore? Not according to a lot on here, which is a real shame.....

[Guest]

Quote:

Gordon T said:
to be fair to the club they havent done too much wrong here in my honest opinion.
In my understanding it is the "match ref" who decides whether the game is on or not. So if he doesn't get there and check before 6.10 then its hardly the clubs fault.

Seems to me that in this situation the club can't win....
But then again does the club ever please anyone anymore? Not according to a lot on here, which is a real shame.....

The game can be called off by any qualified ref. If there was any doubt then the club should have got someone in (most clubs have local refs able to do this) to have a look rather than leave it to 6.15 when they knew away fans would have been on their way.