Supporters take dim view of late postponement
ANOTHER dark day for the SSE Airtricity League.
A decent crowd of around 700 had turned out despite the bitter cold to see Drogheda United face Finn Harps on Friday and there was eager anticipation among both sets of supporters.
However, as the clock ticked towards 7.45 a tweet from Marie Crowe, reporting for RTE2’s Soccer Republic, revealed that kick-off was delayed because of a floodlight problem - 18 out of 48 bulbs not working in total and only 10 out of 24 functioning on the clubhouse side.
Club officials could be seen on the pitch with furrowed brows as they peered up towards the skyline, and after several minutes of confusion stadium announcer Jim McArdle confirmed supporters’ worst fears, saying: ‘The referee is not happy with the level of the floodlighting and has called off the match.
‘We apologise for this c***up.’
Away fans were reimbursed for the cost of their tickets, of course, but that was of little consolation to those who had travelled some 200km and now faced a return journey without having seen a match. They will have to foot the bill for their travel costs, and in the unlikely event that they decide to come to the rescheduled game they’ll have to travel down on a Monday! As for the home supporters, they didn’t get their money back and were instead told they’d be admitted to the upcoming match against Athlone if they retained their ticket. That game has been rescheduled for Sunday March 11th at 3pm, which certainly won’t suit all those affected.
Therein lies the big problem in all of this - that the fans who are the lifeblood of the League of Ireland are not being treated with respect.
First of all, whether or not it was right to call the game off - opinion is divided on that - why did it take until after the match was due to start to make the decision?
Games are sometimes unavoidably postponed at very short notice because of sudden, freak weather events, but this situation could have been foreseen - not just hours in advance, not even just days or weeks but many months ago!
If the FAI are responsible for maintaining the lights, why didn’t they act sooner, for the dogs in the street know that the lights at United Park have been very poor for a couple of years.
The investment that is being made in installing new floodlights is very welcome, but surely the work could and should have been done during the close season rather than undertaking the work now, resulting in major fixture rescheduling.
Perhaps it’s something to do with the wording of the section dealing with floodlighting on Page 34 of the FAI Club Licensing Manual 2018, which is, er, illuminating.
It states: ‘The licence applicant must provide a floodlighting certificate which contains the values for minimum, maximum and average lux level. The certificate must be supplied by an approved electrical contractor and must be dated within the previous 24 months.’
That part of the document needs looked at again, for an awful lot can happen to floodlights in the space of two years!
Back to last Friday night and as the match officials passed through the dressing-room area to begin their journey home, referee John McLoughlin was heard uttering the words ‘dear oh dear’ - and that just about sums up this whole, sorry mess.
One feels for the players, management, club officials and volunteers involved. Some of them will now have difficulty getting time off from their work or study commitments to come back to United Park on the rescheduled date.
The Longford Town manager, former Drogheda United assistant boss Neale Fenn, who had gone to the match because his team face Finn Harps this week, went home with no information on the Donegal men. Even the local pizza delivery firm were affected as Drogheda had to cancel their usual after-match order.
The finger of blame for last Friday’s debacle is being pointed largely at the FAI, and now that the new lights are being installed their next task in relation to Drogheda is to do everything in their power to get the club’s new stadium plans over the line.
At the same time Drogheda United have to put their own house in order - primarily by engaging better with their supporters.
By Monday morning there wasn’t a word of apology or even explanation for the inconvenience suffered by their supporters on the club website, Twitter feed or Facebook page.
Some of them are also extremely annoyed at not being able to obtain a refund, when one was offered to the away supporters.
With reports of lifelong fans of pensionable age being searched amid a very intimidating atmosphere on their way into the ground, there’s a lot of disquiet around and a massive PR exercise is required to get these supporters back on board, cheering their favourites in a much brighter-looking United Park where they belong.