Postponements leave angry fans out in the cold

NEWCASTLE, Blackburn and Bolton all earned the wrath of travelling fans last night after calling off matches at short notice.

Angry supporters called radio stations in protest at the lateness of the decisions especially after some had travelled for hours to the games.

Newcastle's game against Charlton was postponed less than 30 minutes before kick-off, after a heavy snowfall, on the grounds of supporter safety.

Referee Mike Dean had passed the St James' Park pitch fit beforehand, only to announce 45 minutes later, at 7.20pm, it was off after all.

Dean said: "They could have taken the decision over but that's out of my hands. My jurisdiction is the green bit, and that was playable, it was no problem. When the safety says there's a problem outside, I can't say there isn't."

Blackburn announced they will carry out "a thorough investigation" of their undersoil heating system at Ewood Park after their game with Sunderland was postponed at 6pm.

Bolton also experienced problems with their undersoil heating and their game with Middlesbrough was called off at 5pm.

Seventeen matches were postponed due to the weather.

Blackburn managing director Tom Finn said: "We have never lost a home Premier League fixture to frost and we can only offer our sincere apologies to all supporters, especially those who travelled down from the north east.

"We now intend to carry out a full investigation of the heating system in an effort to ensure that the situation does not happen again in the future."

Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson said it was down to referees, club safety officials and police to make the judgments.

Twelve fixtures in the Coca-Cola Football League were called off, starting with the noon kick-off in League Two between Chester and Wrexham.

The Championship match between Plymouth and Preston was postponed, while the League One matches between Blackpool and Oldham, Bournemouth and Barnsley, Doncaster and Brentford, Milton Keynes Dons and Nottingham Forest and Swansea and Gillingham were also called off.

In League Two, Boston v Carlisle, Notts County v Northampton, Peterborough v Oxford, Rochdale v Bury and Shrewsbury v Macclesfield succumbed to the cold snap.