Hull City’s game against Watford was postponed 20 minutes before kick-off to become the third of Sunday’s Championship fixtures to be called off because of freezing conditions.
The 12:00 GMT kick-off between Sheffield United and Oxford United and Portsmouth’s game against Ipswich at 15:00 GMT, as well as a number of other English Football League matches across League One and League Two, had been postponed earlier in the day because of frozen pitches.
While the playing surface at Hull’s MKM Stadium was said to be playable, the match was postponed because sections of ground surrounding the pitch were “deemed unsafe” by match officials.
“Although this has been constantly worked on, conditions have not improved and with temperatures continuing to fall, player safety cannot be guaranteed,” Hull City said in a statement on its website., external
Ten fixtures have also been called off in League Two and four more have fallen to the freezing weather in League One.
In League One, Doncaster’s meeting with Luton, Barnsley’s trip to Port Vale, Rotherham v Mansfield and Stevenage against Leyton Orient were all called off on Sunday.
In addition to five of Sunday’s League Two fixtures which had already been postponed on Saturday, Barnet v Crewe, Barrow v Bristol Rovers, Cambridge v Grimsby, Colchester v Accrington and Newport v Tranmere all failed pitch inspections.