Weather Forecast - Pitch Inspections

[bester]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2024188619435528268

Club posted this morning that the pitch has passed a pitch inspection but due to weather forecast it was very unlikely the game would be on.



FA said can't take weather forecast in to account apparently, gets called off when when match ref turned up this Evening.

 

[CaptainsPlease]

And if there had been no rain or light rain, but the match had been postponed early due to an incorrect weather forecast, I'm sure everyone would have been fine with it

 

[DavidObs]

Wealdstone v Hartlepool was postponed the night before to save Hartlepool from travelling yet I don’t think there was any rain & the pitch must have improved to a certain degree during the day up to what would have been kick off time. Probably the difference between the two was at the morning pitch inspections Farnborough passed & Wealdstone failed, though with the latter, potentially could have passed several hours later, though not taking a risk with Hartlepool travelling so far. Just shows not an exact science.

 

[RefereeX]

I had one last year on a step 4 game where a local referee inspected in the morning (10am) and he told me it was just about playable at the current moment, but that he knew the pitch very well and with pretty much any more rain it would be totally unplayable very quickly. It was forecast to begin raining heavily at 12 noon and not stop until 7-8pm. I made the decision, on his advice, to call it off there and then and spent the afternoon shopping with the mrs. Where I live, the rain never materialised at all and I felt awful, spent the whole day feeling sick thinking I'd got it totally wrong. Then 2 weeks later I ended up with a late appointment at the same club, and when I got there they told me about 2 weeks prior when they inspected at 10am and it was playable but by 3pm it was almost completely under water due to heavy rain made me feel a lot better.

 

[Big Cat]

And if there had been no rain or light rain, but the match had been postponed early due to an incorrect weather forecast, I'm sure everyone would have been fine with it

The weather forecast was nailed on for last night
If the pitch was doubtful beforehand and the Ground Staff's advice was reliable (which it did sound credible and I know that pitch is not tolerant to rain at the best of times), this postponement/abandonment was inevitable. I'm not sure how it works at that level, but common sense between the FA and Referee could've averted significant expense for the clubs involved and the inconvenience caused to spectators
As I say, the forecast was nailed on. It was gonna chuck it down guaranteed and 'the heavens'' duly obliged
This is coming from someone who feels games are called off all too easily in the modern era... but last night was never gonna happen for this game

 

[RustyRef]

I don't really see any easy answer here. If the referee turns up to do an inspection and the pitch is 100% perfect there's no way he can call it off regardless of any future weather forecast. When there have been severe weather warnings the FA have allowed proactive call offs, but with the climate we live in if games were postponed whenever heavy rain was forecast the seasons would never finish.