Southend on Friday night

Why is it necessary to blame someone? To be spiteful and angry? I don’t get it. Loads of games were called off and some late or even when supporters were in the stadium. Nobody should be calling our fans, and nobody criticising Southend or the decision to call the game iff. All of these tricky and regrettable decisions are made on the grounds of safety. It’s a big responsibility for those that have to make the call.

A red weather warning by the Met Office indicates a risk to life & damage to property amongst other hazards. Southend were very wrong to wait for an incident to occur before calling the match off.They should have called the match off as soon as the red warning was issued.

The first red weather warning issued for London. Army on standby and predictions in the days leading up to it that it was potentially the worst storm for 30 years.

If that wasn't warning enough for Southend to call off the game and fans to stay at home, then I don't know what was.

Were Southend permitted to call the game off based on a weather forecast? Historically many a forecast has been incorrect but notwithstanding that should the ground have suffered no damage would the game have been postponed?

It’s my understanding that games are called off by the referee unless, as subsequently occurred their was damage to the ground which placed spectators at risk so allowing Southend to call the game off on safety grounds. Matches are not postponed on the basis that fans are in danger if they travel, whether this is right or wrong is a wider discussion but I don’t believe Southend did anything wrong.

Had the damage not occurred was the game playable? Certainly in Lincoln wind had fallen to a level that would have allowed a fixture to be played.

Quoted from GYinScuntland

Met a couple of the lads, and sat in  pub outside Fenchurch St moaning and whinging before finally accepting no chance of getting to our hotel in Southend.
Booked one in Paddington, few pubs and a curry with mates.
One went to West Ham v Newcastle today, I had a mooch along the Regents canal then a beer so not a complete loss.
A full refund on all train fares due to delays and cancellations plus the hotel in Southend have offered me a freebie for the rearranged fixture even though they didn't have to.

Not a bad result for you then.  

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Were Southend permitted to call the game off based on a weather forecast? Historically many a forecast has been incorrect but notwithstanding that should the ground have suffered no damage would the game have been postponed?

It’s my understanding that games are called off by the referee unless, as subsequently occurred their was damage to the ground which placed spectators at risk so allowing Southend to call the game off on safety grounds. Matches are not postponed on the basis that fans are in danger if they travel, whether this is right or wrong is a wider discussion but I don’t believe Southend did anything wrong.

Had the damage not occurred was the game playable? Certainly in Lincoln wind had fallen to a level that would have allowed a fixture to be played.

Good points. Regarding the last one though, this was the first storm for a while where it was worse down south.

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Were Southend permitted to call the game off based on a weather forecast? Historically many a forecast has been incorrect but notwithstanding that should the ground have suffered no damage would the game have been postponed?

It’s my understanding that games are called off by the referee unless, as subsequently occurred their was damage to the ground which placed spectators at risk so allowing Southend to call the game off on safety grounds. Matches are not postponed on the basis that fans are in danger if they travel, whether this is right or wrong is a wider discussion but I don’t believe Southend did anything wrong.

Had the damage not occurred was the game playable? Certainly in Lincoln wind had fallen to a level that would have allowed a fixture to be played.

This post from a relative of a Southend player may explain:

the ref only makes a decision about the pitch which was very playable. I've heard that the club had to send pics of the ground damage to the league then wait for them to make a devision . This is the process. This was done as soon as the damage was known about and practically possible. They didn't come back to the club until just before the news was broken publicly. Not sufc 's fault but obviously very frustrating for all involved including the ref and Grimsby players and fans as well as our players and fans and staff

I really don’t understand the animosity to Southend. I’m failing to see what they’ve done wrong. So had the damage been caused at 7pm because of excrement weather would it have been any different. Nobody makes football fans go and calling a game off because of some excitable news and weather reports would see swathes of games off regularly.

If people are desperate to blame anyone, possibly blame the leagues for not just growing a pair and saying ‘nope, no games’.

I really don’t get the vitriol towards the club, ironically, the people I’ve seen getting really upset about it weren’t even going…

I was supposed to be playing golf near Epsom on Friday afternoon but they announced the decision to  to close the course before close of play Thursday.
Not a matter of blame, but it was pretty obvious they should have pulled the plug before anyone left home. Whoever was making the decisions needs to have a good look at the criteria they use, because fans are clearly not high on the list

Quoted from aldi_01

I really don’t understand the animosity to Southend. I’m failing to see what they’ve done wrong. So had the damage been caused at 7pm because of excrement weather would it have been any different. Nobody makes football fans go and calling a game off because of some excitable news and weather reports would see swathes of games off regularly.

If people are desperate to blame anyone, possibly blame the leagues for not just growing a pair and saying ‘nope, no games’.

I really don’t get the vitriol towards the club, ironically, the people I’ve seen getting really upset about it weren’t even going…

I don't think it's Southend's fault. I doubt the league let you postpone a game because of a forecast, there would have to be a safety reason why it can't happen. And that's the stupidity of it. When a red weather warning is in place within 5 hours of the match, it should never go ahead. Teams may have to travel through it and some fans will be stupid enough. And yes, stupid is the correct word when you're being warned that there is a danger to life.

Southend have followed the stupid rules, hard to blame them for it.