Fans angered by late postponement

Supporters of Crewe Alexandra and Bristol Rovers were left appalled by the late decision to postpone their match 90 minutes before kick-off.

The pitch had passed an inspection at 0930 GMT, but match referee Russell Booth called the game off at 1800 GMT when he deemed it unplayable.

Callers to BBC Radio Stoke's football phone-in voiced their frustrations.

One Crewe fan labelled the affair "a shambles", while a Rovers fan described the evening as "a disgrace".

Another Crewe supporter complained to the radio station after he was sold a match ticket by the club under an hour before the postponement, and was not told there was any doubt about the game going ahead.

The pitch was covered in ice and snow from the previous day's inclement weather and had not recovered sufficiently, despite the efforts of volunteers to clear the surface.

The match had already been rearranged twice because of the bad weather and also because of Crewe's involvement in the FA Cup third round in January.

Referee Booth, from Nottinghamshire, told BBC Radio Stoke that he had no option but to postpone the game for a third time.

"I arrived at 1620 GMT, having been told there were no problems with the pitch, and my first impressions were that someone should be working on it," he said.

"I decided to wait until the Bristol Rovers manager Paul Trollope to arrive at the ground so we could all make a decision.

"I walked the pitch with the two managers, we decided that the players' safety was paramount, and that wouldn't be the case if we had played the game."

Crewe chairman John Bowler insisted that every effort had been made to play the game.

"I'm devastated, I really am very disappointed," he said.

"We brought another referee in this morning so that our colleagues from Bristol didn't have to make a fruitless journey, but it's the match referee who makes the final decision."

Crewe manager Gudjon Thordarson was disappointed to see another of his team's matches called off - the Alex have only played four League One games in 2009 - but conceded it was the right decision.

"I'm disappointed because I wanted to play this game badly," the former Iceland boss said.

"I can fully understand the referee's concern, if a player was to slide on the that pitch he could seriously hurt himself."

Rovers boss Paul Trollope told BBC Radio Bristol: " Both teams are disappointed as we're desperate to get back to action but we want it to be on a level playing field that's not going to make the game a farce.

"I'd like to thank the fans who have made the effort tonight, it's much appreciated. They're probably as frustrated as we are."