With temperatures forecast to fall this week, smaller clubs who do not have undersoil heating are increasingly worried about the impact on their finances. The cheaper solution of frost covers, which the Football League insists on, cannot cope with very low temperatures or a large covering of snow. Even if the pitch can be cleared, conditions outside the ground may be judged too dangerous for the crowd.
With temperatures forecast to fall this week, smaller clubs who do not have undersoil heating are increasingly worried about the impact on their finances. The cheaper solution of frost covers, which the Football League insists on, cannot cope with very low temperatures or a large covering of snow. Even if the pitch can be cleared, conditions outside the ground may be judged too dangerous for the crowd.
Blackpool use hot air blowers as well as frost covers but that could not cope with conditions and their home game against Manchester United had to be called off. Whether or not the re-arranged fixture, likely to be played midweek next month, will be televised remains to be seen. If it isn’t the Tangerines could lose a valuable £700,000 in television fees.
The sums at stake in the lower leagues are smaller, but Rochdale reckon the postponement of their fixture against ‘big club’ Charlton may have cost them £50,000. A midweek game will attract a far smaller crowd with relatively few Addicks making the journey up from the smoke.
The Christmas period is very important for lower league clubs and not just because gates are boosted as people visit home and go to see the local club they supported as a child. Corporate package sales also go up. Macclesfield have sold 100 of them for their game against Gillingham next Saturday, a key contribution to their cash flow.
For some clubs whether a game goes ahead could determine their survival. The position of Welling United is look increasingly perilous as they struggle to meet tax debts. If a FA Trophy match against Luton, with their big following, goes ahead as planned it could give the Wings enough money to keep going a little longer.