Exeter City apologise to Barnsley FC supporters and pledge to 'review and implement changes' to inspection protocols after controversial postponement

Grecians officials had been confident the fixture would take place but following an inspection of the St James Park surface by referee Darren Handley and the match officials in late afternoon, parts of the pitch were deemed unsafe and the game was called off at 4.45pm.

Over 300 Barnsley supporters were due to attend the fixture, the Reds' first in Exeter since 1980 and many were already present in the Devon city at the time of the postponement.

The decision ensured that they faced a 520-mile round-trip for nothing, with many criticising of the decision-making process and communication.

Barnsley FC Supporters Trust revealed plans to submit an official complaint to the English Football League on behalf of Reds supporters impacted by what they have called a ‘frustrating and poorly communicated cancellation.’

The Oakwell outfit themselves were critical of the circumstances which led to the decision and said in a statement that more consideration should have been taken by the authorities in making a swifter decision and urged for more 'stringent and clear protocol' in future.

A club statement issued by Exeter read: "Although EFL protocols were followed regarding the pitch inspection, the decision was clearly not made early enough for those fans who had to travel a long distance.

"We had closely monitored the forecast and expected the pitch to be playable, with predicted temperatures remaining above freezing.

"However, this was not the case and the referee who inspected the pitch deemed that small parts of it were unplayable, leading to the postponement of the fixture.

"Unfortunately, that pitch inspection did not take place until 4pm. This was partly because the referee was delayed, but even if he had arrived at the expected time, it was clearly too late for the fans who had travelled from Barnsley.

"We commit to reviewing and make changes to our inspection protocols and will do all we can to prevent this situation from occurring again in the future. We have also reviewed the communication from the club around this issue and also commit to improving this.

"Being one of the clubs with the furthest to travel in the league, we understand the cost and time implications of this, and we sincerely apologise again to the Barnsley squad and fans who made the trip to Exeter.

"The club will do everything it can to make Barnsley FC supporters as welcome and as comfortable as possible when they return in the near future. We were pleased to supply free pies and pasties to the Barnsley fans who were at the ground on Tuesday. In addition to this, we also gave any excess food to St Petrock’s homeless charity, something that we do after every home match."

Meanwhile, Barnsley have invited all supporters who bought a ticket for Tuesday's game to attend an intra-squad friendly at Oakwell for free on Saturday morning - where they will also be given a free drink and warm snack.