NOTTS County manager Ian Burchnall last night blasted the circumstances surrounding his side’s postponed game at Dover Athletic yesterday as a “disgrace” after the fixture was dramatically called off just a few hours before kick-off.
In a statement on the Magpies’ official website, the club expressed sympathy for their fans that made a “wasted journey” down to the south-east coast, while venting their frustration at how events regarding the late postponement played out.
County claim they were given guarantees by Dover at 11am that there “were no concerns over the match going ahead”, a message they immediately relayed to supporters embarking on the trip to Crabble.
Burchnall said: “For me, today has been a disgrace. Fans have sacrificed their Saturday, and a lot of money, to travel four hours in support of their football club and they have been massively let down by a complete lack of communication from Dover – just as they were at King’s Lynn.
“We understand that weather conditions can worsen even in a short time period, but to not inform us of the game coming under question shows a complete lack of respect to our supporters and us as a club.
“Our supporters have been badly let down once again and the National League need to address this for the good of all clubs.”
A club statement added: “Having received no further information from Dover, club officials were incredibly frustrated to arrive at the stadium two hours later only to be told by stewards that the match had been postponed.”
On their website, Dover chairman Jim Parmenter said: “I don’t know why the referee has made that decision, the pitch is firm, there is no standing water.
“I think it’s the wrong decision, I believe he is a new referee so maybe he is not that experienced but the game could have easily gone ahead so I am very disappointed.
“He’s called the game off in my opinion based on the weather forecast rather than the state of the pitch.”
