v Ipswich Town (h) - 20/9/25

[gazzaa2]

Pitch not strong enough. Lashed it down all day in Manchester but pitch is holding up at Old Traffford.

[booth]

27 minutes ago, Andy said:

It was the 3rd of January 1994.

I was there (as a 10 year old), watching Jones and co doing Klinsmanns on the pitch through the gates.

 

We were in the Blackburn End and they were sliding right in front of us. By the time it was called off we were wet through.

[chaddyrovers]

2 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Theres no way that game could have carried on. The ball couldnt move.

The Portsmouth home game in league 1 under Mowbray was much worse condition. Yet the game finish..its a bit of rain FFS

[Ossydave]

My take on it is yes that pitch was in a shocking state come 79 minutes. If it was like that at kick off it never starts, if it was like that at half time, probably call it a do. There were 10 minutes left though and I've seen games completed on worse because logic was applied.

Reminds me a bit of the pitch at Donny when we sealed promotion. The pitch was pretty much the same then on 80 mins, anyone who went on it after will definitely agree! However the ref acknowledged it was heading to the end of the season and would have caused real issues to abandon it. If it would have been 11 v 11 and Ipswich were well on top, fair enough, that was not the case though.

Edited 2 hours ago by Ossydave

[Waggy76]

1 minute ago, AspRover said:

BBC reporting that the Manchester utd. v Chelsea match is at risk of a waterlogged pitch and that the wet surface is 'really affecting play' - This will be interesting, it's a game with a team 2-0 up and a couple of red cards, in favour of Mu.

If that game gets called off you can bet that Mu will heavily lobby to be awarded the win - we might be able to tack on to that.

Whilst United are winning , it will not be abandoned !

[Bohinen1983]

Thought we looked good today.. 

The new centre mid definitely should start ahead of Tavares!

[Hasta]

3 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Ok thanks - Im obviously wrong with my recollection of when the new JW stand opened.

Shearer famously scored twice past Schmeichal when rovers beat United 2-0  in April 94 and the stand was being done then. It opened for the start of the 1994/95 season. 
What was the last league game which fans sat in the Nuttall Street stand before demolition is a good question.

Edited 2 hours ago by Hasta

[GHD]

41 minutes ago, Hasta said:

What was the last game anyone can remember called off mid-game at Ewood?

1959, a 4th round FA cup game against the dingles. Called off at half time due to a frozen pitch, score was 0-0. Replayed the following Wednesday, full price charged again, fifty odd thousand at the first game and mid forty thousand at the replay.

[RoversTilliDie]

1 minute ago, AspRover said:

BBC reporting that the Manchester utd. v Chelsea match is at risk of a waterlogged pitch and that the wet surface is 'really affecting play' - This will be interesting, it's a game with a team 2-0 up and a couple of red cards, in favour of Mu.

If that game gets called off you can bet that Mu will heavily lobby to be awarded the win - we might be able to tack on to that.

They'll probably be awarded the win, if it happened, fergie rules.

[booth]

5 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I dont get the bitterness towards McKenna. The game clearly couldnt carry on regardless of what anyone wanted, the ball couldnt move or bounce.

Telling that only our game fell foul in the North West. 

There was only his players trying to poleaxe people and strangely enough the Rovers players had coped okay.

[Mercer]

15 minutes ago, Penwortham Blue said:

Remember that one well, every one was in the bogs at half time, freezing. I think Garner got both but might be wrong.

Think ding dong Bell netted that game.  If memory's correct, it was early Jan with only a few thousand on the ground.

[JHRover]

What we really need is for the ref to abandon the United v Chelsea game in similar circumstances with United winning. No way they'd make them replay it from being 2-0 up so we'd have a chance of arguing ours should stand. Not looking likely mind their pitch holding up reasonably well in the deluge.

[Songman]

I thought the Rovers were very good again today. Many positive signs going forward.

No issues with abandonment here

Potential issue with FA decision

[chaddyrovers]

7 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

I know climate change is a divisive subject, and I'm not getting involved in a discussion about it but recent studies have shown that the UK gets more prolonged, intensive rainfall than we used to. 

That drainage system should have been designed to cope with worst case scenario's but that was many years ago. A design of the same thing tomorrow would lead to different infrastructure/design than what's there now.

Incidentally, I work for a large Civil Engineering consultancy, who I'm sure would be happy to take a look and come up with an alternative design 😀 

Hasn't the fact of house development and the use of drainage system is much more than was original plan when built. Maybe a new investment in the drainage area is needed

[Theaxe15]

Cantwell posting about the EFL ‘making the right decision’ gives me vague vague hope that there’s a feeling around that there’s a chance of it. Still can’t see it mind you.

[booth]

Just now, JHRover said:

What we really need is for the ref to abandon the United v Chelsea game in similar circumstances with United winning. No way they'd make them replay it from being 2-0 up so we'd have a chance of arguing ours should stand. Not looking likely mind their pitch holding up reasonably well in the deluge.

They'll never abandon it with United being 2-0 up. Even if the players were drowning 2 minutes in, they'd still make them play the full 90 and award them 3 points.

Under Fergie it would have been an extra point for each drowned opposition player.

[Waggy76]

3 minutes ago, Mercer said:

Think ding dong Bell netted that game.  If memory's correct, it was early Jan with only a few thousand on the ground.

I think Bell was injured before that game and never appeared again , Stonehouse might have scored one.

[RoversTilliDie]

19 minutes ago, gumboots said:

Think that was the but that annoyed us mist. They came out before we knew for sure it was off - I know we knew as soon as they went off but not officially. Awful from our club.

They were probably celebrating, because they got out of jail. Rovers were in control  of the game 1-0 up, and Ipswich were lucky they weren't down to nine men, lucky there was a man just in front of the defender, for there 4th yellow card.

[Ossydave]

United pitch isn't even comparable to ours, at this point anyway.

[Mercer]

17 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

No its embarrassing from yourself Mercer

Read carefully!

I made it clear it's not embarrassing from me.

You are embarrassing yourself by throwing your toys out the pram.

It's professional sport where gamesmanship thrives.

Boot on the other foot and you would have been lauding Ismael and saying referee was right as pitch too dangerous.

Decisions go for and against you over the season - you just have to take the rough with the smooth and not bellyache.

[MarkBRFC]

36 minutes ago, JHRover said:

2025 - today's game called off after 80 minutes due to a waterlogged pitch

2024 - Rovers v Portsmouth postponed due to a waterlogged pitch

2022 - Rovers v Millwall postponed due to snow

2021 - Rovers v Swansea postponed due to a waterlogged pitch (2 days after this game Rovers release a club statement acknowledging issues with the pitch and blaming 'extreme weather' and a high number of games

2012 - Rovers v Brighton postponed due to a waterlogged pitch

Now I'm relying on the power of Google and my memory but I cannot recall a game being cancelled, abandoned or postponed due to the weather prior to 2012 in my lifetime, and I was born in 1990.

Maybe someone can confirm if I am not correct there. Let's focus on games affected by the rain or snow.

There has always been a river running past the ground into which the pitch drains and yet strangely this didn't seem to be a chronic problem for 20+ years, it seems to have become a major issue, particularly in the last 3-4 years. 

I'm sure that some will claim that this is because of 'climate change' and we are suddenly getting a lot more wet weather than we used to. Or maybe it is actually because Rovers have failed to invest adequately in maintaining and improving their facilities, which I think is pretty evident from a simple visual observation of Ewood Park, and this is one element of it biting us in the arse.

Edit - our match with Aston Villa in the Cup in 2010 was postponed due to snow and ice

Also add to this at Ewood -

Boxing Day 2015 vs Middlesbrough 

December 2005 vs Sunderland

December 1995 vs Leeds

January 1994 vs Wimbledon

[M_B]

The one I always remember was the 3rd round (just checked ) full members cup tie against Oxford.

Could hardly see the edge of the Blackburn end penalty box for fog, from the Blackburn end, remember thinking any other competion it would be abandoned.

All worked out for the best though. 

Edited 2 hours ago by M_B

[DE.]

1 minute ago, Theaxe15 said:

Cantwell posting about the EFL ‘making the right decision’ gives me vague vague hope that there’s a feeling around that there’s a chance of it. Still can’t see it mind you.

I just can't see it. With the amount of time left and the score being 1-0, there was still a chance of them scraping a draw at least. Unlikely perhaps being down to 10, but nowhere near impossible.

The problem is there's no truly fair and logistically reasonable way to proceed. It's going to be unfair to somebody no matter what, so they'll look at historical precedents and what the decision would mean for similar situations in the future. I think they'll mandate a replayed match, unfortunately. 

[Leonard Venkhater]

6 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

My take on it is yes that pitch was in a shocking state come 79 minutes. If it was like that at kick off it never starts, if it was like that at half time, probably call it a do. There were 10 minutes left though and I've seen games completed on worse because logic was applied.

Reminds me a bit of the pitch at Donny when we sealed promotion. The pitch was pretty much the same then on 80 mins, anyone who went on it after will definitely agree! However the ref acknowledged it was heading to the end of the season and would have caused real issues to abandon it. If it would have been 11 v 11 and Ipswich were well on top, fair enough, that was not the case though.

Oh, yes. I remember being worried that the game would have to be abandoned

[roversfan99]

9 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

The Portsmouth home game in league 1 under Mowbray was much worse condition. Yet the game finish..its a bit of rain FFS

Its more than "a bit of rain FFS." 

It had become impossible to play on that pitch. I dont care how other games compare. Players couldnt make 5 yard passes without the ball stopping in a puddle. The ball stopped dead on the pitch.