Twenty-three of Saturday’s Football League fixtures have been postponed as the freezing weather continues to bite. The non-league and Scottish programmes have also been ravaged by the weather. All Premier League matches are currently on.
The Championship leaders Wolves’ televised home match with Reading became the latest victim of the weather when it was called off on Saturday morning, along with Aston Villa v QPR. Ipswich’s home Championship match with Hull, Barnsley’s game against Norwich and second-placed Cardiff’s trip to Brentford are all also off. The match between Sheffield United and Burton was called off on Thursday.
As the freeze continued through Friday, the League One promotion challengers Shrewsbury had their home match against Peterborough called off along with Blackpool v Northampton, Wimbledon v Charlton and Rochdale v Plymouth to join the three fixtures called off on Thursday, while eight League Two games have also been postponed. The National League programme has been almost wiped out too, only the match between Dover and Leyton Orient surviving.
In Scotland Saturday’s Scottish Premiership matches between St Johnstone and Hamilton and Ross County and Partick are off and though Saturday’s Scottish Cup quarter finals – Celtic v Greenock Morton and Aberdeen v Kilmarnock – are both still on at the moment, Morton’s chief executive, Warren Hawke, has expressed reservations about “supporters risking life and limb to travel to a football match while the Met Office is issuing warnings to avoid non-essential travel”. All league fixtures are off.
Saturday 3 March
Championship: Aston Villa v QPR, Barnsley v Norwich, Brentford v Cardiff, Ipswich v Hull, Sheffield United v Burton, Wolves v Reading
League One: AFC Wimbledon v Charlton, Blackpool v Northampton, Bradford v Portsmouth, Doncaster v Bury, Gillingham v Rotherham, Oxford v Fleetwood, Rochdale v Plymouth, Shrewsbury v Peterborough
League Two: Barnet v Port Vale, Crawley v Wycombe, Coventry v Lincoln, Crewe v Forest Green, Exeter v Chesterfield, Morecambe v Colchester, Newport v Accrington, Stevenage v Mansfield, Swindon v Yeovil
Scottish Premiership: Ross County v Partick, St Johnstone v Hamilton
Scottish Championship: Dunfermline v Livingston, Inverness CT v Brechin
League One: Airdreonians v Stranraer, Albion Rovers v Queens Park, Alloa v East Fife, Arbroath v Ayr, Forfar v Raith
League Two: Berwick v Sterling, Clyde v Elgin, Edinburgh v Cowdenbeath, Montrose v Annan, Peterhead v Stenhousemuir
No Premier League matches have been hit yet with Southampton saying their game with Stoke is set to go ahead after issuing a new update late on Friday afternoon. The club have been monitoring conditions following heavy snowfall in Hampshire.
A statement on their website read: “Southampton Football Club is anticipating that tomorrow’s Premier League match with Stoke City will proceed as planned. “
Following continued consultation throughout the day, the club and authorities expect the game to go ahead at its scheduled 3pm GMT kick-off time. Should there be a need for any further updates, we will inform supporters as soon as possible via southamptonfc.com and our social channels.”
West Brom are set to travel to their match at Watford via train while the West Ham manager, David Moyes, expressed his concern about the roads before his side’s flight to Cardiff for their match at Swansea. “The Met office are saying people should not travel on the roads, especially around Cardiff and the M4, so that is a concern at the moment,” Moyes said.
