Barnsley v Oldham hit by weather

The fixture had been due to kick-off at 7.45pm on Monday, but the cold weather has taken its toll.

A statement issued on www.barnsleyfc.co.uk around midday on Monday said: “A local referee made the decision this morning after inspecting the playing surface at Oakwell - when it was deemed it would be unplayable for tonight’s game.

“A new date for this fixture will be confirmed in the near future.”

Barnsley chief executive Ben Mansford said: “Our undersoil heating has been running since Boxing Day, but with sub-zero temperatures expected by kick-off tonight, the pitch will certainly be unplayable.

“Our staff and Barnsley Council have worked tirelessly over the weekend to give the game a best possible chance of going ahead, but we can’t control the weather.

“The issue is not the snowfall but the very low temperatures which means the snow has frozen and turned into ice, which will not thaw in these temperatures.”

Frost had already impacted on Monday’s racing schedule, with the National Hunt meeting set to take place at Kelso in the afternoon being abandoned.

Temperatures at the Borders track fell to minus 4C overnight and, with little in the way of sufficient improvement expected, officials were forced to take an early decision.

Racing on the all-weather track at Southwell on Monday afternoon was also abandoned in the morning due to frost.

Jon Pullin, assistant racing director for Arena Racing Company, said: ‘’We’ve got frozen materials within the track.”

Those announcements followed the news on Sunday that Monday’s meeting at Doncaster had been abandoned due to snow.