English FA Premiership: The English Premier League yesterday promised to revise their fixture-scheduling procedures for Christmas and New Year next season to ensure travelling fans are not left out in the cold as they have been this week.
Chaos caused by the freezing temperatures at football grounds across the country meant 17 of Wednesday's Premiership and Football League matches were called off. Newcastle United's match against Charlton was postponed only 20 minutes before kick-off, and about 500 fans from London made the 600-mile round trip in vain.
Richard Scudamore, the Premier League's chief executive, has responded to calls from fans' groups and the British sports minister, Richard Caborn, to accept that paramount in the Premiership's fixture calculations for the holiday period should be distances travelled by fans.
"It's an issue we will be looking at further with a view to next season's fixtures," said a Premier League spokesman. "The fans are the most important thing and we have to make sure that our fixtures reflect that."
Caborn had labelled the plight of Charlton's fans "unacceptable", indicating that he would write a letter demanding action from the football authorities to ensure adequate notice of match cancellations. "Clubs, of course, want to play the matches if at all possible, but they should not leave it to the last minute because it is so unfair on the fans," he said.
It is felt that the fixtures working party's guidelines for next year will assist in mitigating the affect of future cancellations, though the Premier League insisted such postponements were "exceptional".
Bolton's match against Middlesbrough was postponed at 3pm and Sunderland's trip to Blackburn fell foul of frost three hours later, because of under-soil heating failures at the Reebok Stadium and Ewood Park. At Newcastle, conditions around St James' Park led to the cancellation on the advice of the local council.
All three clubs said tickets would be valid for the rearranged fixtures and that refunds would be made available to fans unable to attend those matches. However, Bolton insist that the earliness of their decision ensured Boro fans were not inconvenienced and so ruled out compensating visiting fans for travel expenses incurred.
Blackburn said they would consider compensation, but a spokeswoman for Newcastle said this would not be a practical option because there were always fans who could not reach matches. Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd expressed sympathy for Charlton's fans, but the club's stance on compensation drew criticism from the Football Supporters' Federation chairman Malcolm Clarke.
"In the Premier League there is enough money to give some recompense to the supporters who have made unnecessary journeys," said Clarke. "Free or greatly subsidised travel to the rearranged fixture would be appropriate. Premier League clubs can afford to make a gesture to fans for being severely inconvenienced this week, even if it's half-price or free travel for the rearranged game."
The Premier League, meanwhile, have insisted the Christmas fixture pile-up is partly due to the four-week build-up desired by Sven-Goran Eriksson for his England players ahead of the World Cup finals.
Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson insisted: "It is particularly difficult this Christmas because we have to squeeze in an extra game. After negotiations with the Football Association, we agreed a four-week break at the end of the season for England's World Cup preparations."
Asked about the lack of a winter break, which would - in any case - be held in January, he added: "If someone shows how it is logistically possible to fit in a break in the middle of the season then we will certainly look at that."
"But when you are talking about (giving England) four weeks at the end of the season and we have a full fixture calendar to fit in, it becomes increasingly difficult.
"You also don't know when the bad weather is going to fall. You could have a very mild Christmas when it is possible to play the games and then have a winter frost in January."
Graeme Souness's post-match comments on West Ham's 4-2 defeat by Newcastle will be used by the losers' manager Alan Pardew as motivational material for the two sides' next encounter, Pardew says.
Pardew claims the Scot was disrespectful about his West Ham players in labelling them "scared" - though it should be noted that Souness in fact described them as "nervous" - and will remind his dressing-room of that when the teams meet again.
That is unlikely to be until next season, however, unless they are paired in the FA Cup.
"Standing on the side watching our team outplay and outmanoeuvre Newcastle and listening to the comments coming from their bench and the frustration of how the game was unfolding, it was ironic to hear Graeme Souness say afterwards that our two centre-halves were scared," Pardew wrote in his programme notes for Wednesday's Wigan game, which his team lost, 2-0.
"I thought that was complete nonsense and he should have known better than to criticise players on the opposite team.
"We will make sure we remember that when we play them again."
It seems Pardew may be ready for a personal feud with Souness. "The one thing I hate about other managers is waffle that is nowhere near the truth. I would never conduct myself like that," he said.
Guardian Service
