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

[aletheia]

18 minutes ago, norwichblue said:

Can’t help but feel like if this happened at their place

It wouldn't have done -they have a proper pitch.

[B16Rover]

Picture this, it's the replay.  We've lasted till the 89th minute.  Szmodics on.  He bags. Immediately, 

 

They go on to win it. 

Rate your anger on a scale of 1 to 10

[garnersfags]

There are no direct precedents for this decision, but I assume if anyone at the board meeting floated(pun intended) the argument/suggestion that any other decision could lead to clubs being tempted to allow waterlogging of the pitch when losing an important game, this would be difficult to argue against. 

Also, the solution of playing remaining minutes would become farcical if only one minute remained... 

However, in terms of actual fairness, the whole debacle is weighed 100% against Rovers (apart from the wet Tuesday night in Stoke argument...).

For example, and I'm sure this has been mentioned in this thread, Ipswich like Rovers lost many of their best players over the summer but, unlike Rovers, they invested £50m+ in replacements, after a net spend of £100m the previous summer. 

Inevitably, the improvement in their performances as the new squad gels and develops will favour Ipswich more than Rovers as the season progresses. 

I hope natural justice prevails but, although it will be a bloody good game, with added national focus, I fear we will be happy with a point based on Ipswich's results over the next few weeks. 

Hopefully, the sheer sense of injustice will bring another 500 thro the gate and squeeze us over the line... 

Edited 2 hours ago by garnersfags

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Not surprised - but if I were Rovers I would tell the EFL that if the loss of three points mean we get relegated (or less likely) miss out on the chance of promotion we reserve the right to take them to court for loss of earnings.

[garnersfags]

2 minutes ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

Not surprised - but if I were Rovers I would tell the EFL that if the loss of three points mean we get relegated (or less likely) miss out on the chance of promotion we reserve the right to take them to court for loss of earnings.

Yes, and we'll be awarded £50m in compensation, of which £1m will go back into the running of the club... 

[garnersfags]

2 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

It could have been the 91st minute of 93, they'd have demanded a full replay.

They didn't use logic, they just fell back onto their old archaic rules. 

Apparently, the EFL and PL rule used to be 75 min, and this may still be a UEFA rule. 

I heard that the new EFL rule is that if 45 min has been played in both halves, the result can stand. 

Anyway, we all saw the wording of the decision, there may now be a review of these rules, but it will be of no use to us... 

[M_B]

Even though we knew the game wasn't going to be restarted, we hung around on Saturday just out of curiosity. Never been to an abandoned game before I don't think, so it's one for the memory bank. 

The good news is we hopefully get another home game to go to. It'll certainly be a strange one. 

[RevidgeBlue]

21 minutes ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

Not surprised - but if I were Rovers I would tell the EFL that if the loss of three points mean we get relegated (or less likely) miss out on the chance of promotion we reserve the right to take them to court for loss of earnings.

Exactly so.

Despite the inherent unfairness of the ruling I was expecting it - what I wasn't expecting was for that unfairness to be compounded by the possibility the vote only went against us due to several panel members abstaining! Ludicrous!

Given the owners seem to love a good Court case and their previous predilection for throwing away obscene amounts of money in legal fees on seemingly lost causes, now we have an arguable case I hope  they go full frontal and appeal and as you say preface it with the threat of legal action as above.

The EFL deserve for us to lose the replay and go down by less than three points and for Ipswich to be promoted by less than three points and for them to have the arse sued off them by both us and  any other aggrieved Club.

Edited 1 hour ago by RevidgeBlue

[sharpysharps86]

As Rovers fans, its hard not to think that this decision is going to come back to haunt Rovers later on in the season.

However, I hope that this decision rallies the players for the next few games, and also for the eventual replay whenever that happens. Knowing the EFL and their logic they'll probably place it during a particularly hectic period of fixtures.

[Penwortham Blue]

3 hours ago, Herbie6590 said:

Suspect that the rationale was along the lines that there was enough time left & a close enough scoreline to make the final outcome sufficiently uncertain. Frankly I agree with that logic...if that's what they used...😆

Then play the last 10 minutes and stoppage time out, 11 v 10 and the resultant outcome removes any uncertainty. 

[Penwortham Blue]

3 hours ago, Wheelton Blue said:

The way that I look at this, is what would we think if it was roles reversed? ie it was us who we were down to 10 men, with 15+ minutes to go, but only a goal behind.

We'd be screaming blue murder for a full reply.

Of course we would want a full replay but I don’t think anyone with any common sense or decency would be disappointed if the game was restarted and finished from the salient point of abandonment. The only sensible and equitable solution but one ignored by the EFL, fucking ridiculous.

[...]

2 hours ago, rovers11 said:

Not surprised by the outcome, but the only outcome that should have been made is that we start the game at the same minute it was stopped, with Ipswich starting with 10 men.

Ipswich will almost certainly win the replay so we've been robbed of 3 points.

Need a full house full intimidation mode and grant them 500 seats.

[Ossydave]

Can't believe the mass outrage online, it was always gonna be a full replay but a lot of people were obviously expecting different. 

So many possible repercussions down the line not just for us/Ipswich but other teams too.

Imagine if a couple of our key players got season ending injuries in the rematch.

I doubt we've heard the last of it given how close the championship has been in recent seasons....

[neophox]

Ipswich can wank off...this shit is rigged by the efl..had enough.....

In which way does this suit us? It only suits Ipswich...foookers

[Hasta]

As I walked off the ground on Saturday I just presumed it would be a full replay. The surprise is it has taken us 5 days to get here.

[neophox]

We can always say hey come to us and we let the clock run down to the day 75th minute then take on player off and you still have your chance 

[simongarnerisgod]

**** ipswich and the efl,make them wait till april,i take it both sides have to mutually agree on the date,lets be as arkward as possible,they`ve done us up like a kipper,so lets reciprocate

[chaddyrovers]

McKenna and Ipswich got exactly what they wanted from the game being called out. 

The game should have been restarted from 80 mins. Fairiest thing to do. 

[Penwortham Blue]

Frankly, the EFL decision is an absolute scandal. This decision should not be about finance or logistics or precedent, just about transparency and fairness and only restarting the game and playing it out from the point of abandonment satisfies that criteria.

[rovers11]

3 hours ago, simongarnerisgod said:

what makes you think that,they looked an average side,despite them having spent millions on their squad,we were the better side throughout

Lots of factors in their favour now:

- Huge psychological advantage

- Superior squad, they should beat us 11 v 11 most weeks 

- Likely to be in an evening game and we do not do well in those as we cannot rotate our squad like they can

- Gives them a chance to build up some form. They will be near the top come the end of the season and will inevitable click at some point soon

[rovers11]

11 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

McKenna and Ipswich got exactly what they wanted from the game being called out. 

The game should have been restarted from 80 mins. Fairiest thing to do. 

If it was the other way round, I suspect that may have been the decision. The bigger clubs, if you can call Ipswich that, have more power.

Edited 58 minutes ago by rovers11

[Penwortham Blue]

3 minutes ago, rovers11 said:

If it was the other way round, I suspect that may have been the decision. The bigger clubs, if you can call Ipswich that, have more power.

Yes, we are not what we were as a result of the Indians and the fact that our fan base, infrastructure and spirit has been decimated by 16 years of neglect. However, I refuse to believe that Ipswich Town are a bigger club.

[Gamst]

If I were at the club I would be demanding an explanation from the EFL about why the fairest outcome was so impossible to sanction? The EFL statement suggests they’ve ‘comprehensively’ considered all the options and made their decision in order to ‘maintain the integrity of the league’. I would say awarding us the 3 points would be the least fair option followed by the full replay 11v11. Clearly the fairest option would be to play out the remaining minutes 11v10. Surely the fairest option upholds integrity the most? So if they have considered the options ‘comprehensively’ what is it that makes the part replay so impossible to do? 

[Inferi]

26 minutes ago, Gamst said:

If I were at the club I would be demanding an explanation from the EFL about why the fairest outcome was so impossible to sanction? The EFL statement suggests they’ve ‘comprehensively’ considered all the options and made their decision in order to ‘maintain the integrity of the league’. I would say awarding us the 3 points would be the least fair option followed by the full replay 11v11. Clearly the fairest option would be to play out the remaining minutes 11v10. Surely the fairest option upholds integrity the most? So if they have considered the options ‘comprehensively’ what is it that makes the part replay so impossible to do? 

I agree. The decision and the laughable explanation make the EFL look corrupt, spineless, and utterly devoid of integrity.