Both sets of supporters were let down at the MKM Stadium on Sunday afternoon
Hull City’s game against Watford on Sunday afternoon was one of three Championship games that fell victim to the weather, but unlike the others, this one got ridiculously close to kick-off with fans already in their seats.
Both sets of players were out warming up on the MKM Stadium pitch when it became obvious the game had been called off. No, it wasn’t an announcement that signalled the end of any hopes of it going ahead; it was the sight of Watford’s players heading over to their 1,000 or so away fans to thank them for coming.
From that moment, both sets of players loitered about before heading down the tunnel. At 2:42pm, 18 minutes before kick off, City tweeted to say the game was off. It was another three minutes before the fans actually inside the stadium were informed of the news, 15 minutes before the match should have been getting underway.
Once again, it’s the match-going supporter who feels like a second-class citizen, and that’s where the FA, Premier League and EFL must step in and ensure this nonsense doesn’t happen again.
Nobody has any issue with games being called off in the name of player or spectator safety, and that’s fine. As frustrating as it is, we have to do the right thing and ensure people are safe. These things happen. Live events get cancelled; it’s a risk everybody takes when they buy a ticket for anything, whether that’s a football, rugby or cricket match, a concert or whatever else.
City, Watford, the referee and stadium safety officials were all in agreement that the game should have been called off because of safety concerns, but that decision should have been made much earlier when it was obvious to most that there were issues that couldn’t be resolved.
The issue here isn’t the fact that the game was called off; it’s the timing, and that’s where we must sort this out. Calling a game off within 20 minutes of the game kicking off, with fans inside the stadium, is unacceptable, and for that, all parties must accept their share of the blame.
If the surrounding areas were not passable at 12pm, with temperatures dropping and no realistic way of solving that problem before kick-off, or even by delaying it, then a decision should have been made much earlier to at least give supporters on their way to the game a chance to alter their travel arrangements.
City will lose out financially from this. They’ll have to refund tickets whilst still paying matchday staff, so calling it off does not help them at all, and the re-arranged game will cost them more to stage than they’ll claim from tickets bought and above all else, it’s not a great look for the club.
The FA, Premier League and the EFL must come together and put something in place to stop games being called off so late, and actually take into consideration the supporters who actually pay significant amounts of money to travel to, and watch live games of football.
Like with the scheduling of games on televison, fans that attend matches are the ones who seem to be the ones thought of last, and that has to change. Nobody set out to inconvenience the fans of Hull City and Watford on Sunday, and the whole chain of events was regrettable and avoidable, but lessons have to be learned, and the impact on fans in the stadium must be put front and centre.
From this farcical situation, the authorities must put in place stricter protocols for deciding whether or not games should go ahead, because this cannot be allowed to happen again.
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