Nottingham Forest’s arch-rivals Derby County “fiddled it” so a Championship clash with Cardiff City two years ago did not go ahead, it has been claimed.
In 2018, the Reds’ bitter enemies were due to host the Bluebirds at Pride Park on Sunday, March 18 in a noon kick-off.
Heavy snow around the area overnight, however, saw the match called off at 8.15am, when many travelling supporters had already started to arrive in Derby.
Former Notts County chief Neil Warnock was Cardiff’s manager at the time and branded the decision a “disgrace”, after he and his players had made it to the stadium from their hotel.
He suggested the Rams had been keen to see the game postponed because of their injury problems, with the affair quickly branded ‘snowgate’ by some.
And now Warnock says Gary Rowett, then-Derby boss, has since told him the club did “fiddle it” so the match did not go ahead.
Asked about the best promotions he has achieved, he told Sky Sports: “I think, if anything, probably the last one at Cardiff.
“We were supposed to be mid-table and we kept surprising people.
“Everyone kept writing us off and saying Fulham were the team and they were going to do this. It just drove us on.
“We had all the controversy about the snow on the pitch at Derby and then losing that game (which the Rams won 3-1 when it was rearranged a month later).
“Incidentally, Gary Rowett has told me since that they did fiddle it as well. So that made me feel better when I heard that from his mouth.
“So we had all those things to put up with and the lads were magnificent.”
At the time, Derby insisted of the controversial postponement that they had followed the correct procedures.
"We fully complied with all the matchday operational regulations surrounding the postponement of the game," the club said.
"The decision was fully supported by the independent Safety Advisory Group who are responsible for ensuring that the club complies with the terms and conditions of our Safety Certificate."
As a row erupted, an online petition emerged urging the English Football League to dock Derby points, but the governing body conducted an investigation and declared, “the decision to postpone the fixture was the correct one in the circumstances”.
