ARBROATH chairman Brian Cargill has offered an apology after his side’s home match against Ayr United was postponed one hour before kick-off.
The visitors, as well as a majority of supporters, had already made their way to Gayfield when the decision was made to call off the Scottish Championship clash.
The Honest Men later issued a club statement branding the situation on Saturday as “unacceptable”.
“All associated with Ayr United are beyond disappointed with the events that led to today’s cancellation,” it said.
“On arriving at the ground it became clear that there was an area of the pitch that was frozen and would have never passed an inspection.
“This would have been clear to anyone who walked across it at any point on the day of the game.
“The fact this was not highlighted to us or the league this morning which resulted in our players, staff and fans travelling over 250 miles for a match that would never start is unacceptable.
“We can only apologise to our supporters who travelled and confirm that we will make representation to the SPFL to highlight our serious concerns.”
While Arbroath chairman, Mr Cargill, later issued an apology to all those impacted as a result of the call-off.
He stated that the frozen area of the pitch had been checked 24 hours prior to kick-off and was “completely playable” at that stage.
It was added that, with similar weather predicted in the lead up to Saturday, a further inspection was not considered necessary.
Mr Cargill continued: “Unfortunately, on what was possibly the best day of the year so far in Arbroath, a sharp overnight frost had taken a deep hold of a section of the pitch.
“This area was where the sun had not reached due to the roof of one of the adjacent stands blocking it. Although the vast majority of the pitch was playable, this section of the pitch on the seaside of the ground never thawed out.
“Unfortunately no further full inspection was planned or carried out on Saturday morning, and for this we hold ourselves responsible and apologise.
“Areas of the playing surface near the main stand were clearly very soft late on, but the frozen area on the far side was only discovered once the referee arrived.”
The chairman says that greater consideration will now be given moving forward.
He added: “We are all keen to get matches played, but ultimately the decision by the referee was correct and the safety of the players must always be the key consideration, and we are grateful for this.
“However, the inconvenience of a rearranged match to the opposing team, staff and all the supporters involved from both sides is also extremely important, and lessons learned from this unfortunate experience will be taken forward in future.
“The club would wish to sincerely apologise to the supporters, staff and volunteers of both clubs who had set out, or had already arrived, at Gayfield Park and to everyone connected with Ayr United for the late call off of Saturday’s mat
