SFL Defends Postponement Procedures

Russel Brown MP

The Scottish Football League has defended its postponement procedures following criticism from an MP.Dumfries and Galloway MP Russell Brown called for action after the weekend call-off of Queen of the South's match with Inverness Caley Thistle. SFL operations director David Thomson said he "absolutely sympathised" with fans who suffered late postponements. However, he said the "vagaries of the weather" meant early inspections were not always practical or desirable. Mr Brown made his call after Queen of the South supporters suffered their third postponement this season while en-route to a match. He urged the SFL to "get a grip" of the situation by enforcing early pitch inspections when a match was in doubt. Mr Thomson said the current procedures already tried to take the needs of fans into account. 'Weather turns'"First of all we do sympathise with supporters who have travelled and a game is called off at the last minute," he said. He said that during the cold spell in December and January many games had been postponed well in advance of the fixture.

Many Queens fans were less than amused at the late postponement of the Inverness match and some had already arrived at the ground. The Doonhamer Travel Club coaches managed to get as far as Aviemore before finding out the that the game had been postponed.