Frozen pitch ‘shambles’ has Fifers fuming
East Fife manager Darren Young was an angry man after his side’s Irn-bru Cup quarterfinal tie against Bohemians in Dublin was called off with less than half-an-hour to kick off. The tie was originally scheduled to be played in November, but was postponed as the League of Ireland season had finished and some of the Bohemian players were no longer under contract.
The SPFL were apparently unaware that this issue could occur when they invited crossborder teams into the competition three years ago.
Rather than hand East Fife a bye, the solution was to play the tie as part of the Irish side’s preseason programme.
The Fifers cancelled their League 1 game with Arbroath to accommodate the plan. But that was wrecked yesterday by a frozen pitch – and East Fife boss Darren Young was fuming. “There is only one word to describe what has gone on and that is shambles,” he said.
“In fact, there are three words – an absolute shambles. “We were not made aware of any issues at all until we arrived at the ground at half-past one. “We bent over backwards to give this tie an opportunity to be played. “We could have forced a passage into the next round when the fixture could not be fulfilled back in November, but we took the decision not to rock the boat and play it. Young added: “This game was never going to get played. The pitch is rock-solid, and no one put any covers down in the days leading up to it.
“Part of the pitch is in the shadow of a stand and the sun was never going to thaw it out. “We had 300 fans over here with us. They have paid a lot of money, and you can’t treat people like this.”
The SPFL will discuss the situation tomorrow.