Minstermen left counting the cost

The late decision to call off yesterday's York City v Fleetwood Town match because the Bootham Crescent pitch was frozen came as a severe blow to the Minstermen's finances, writes Malcolm Huntington.
By The Newsroom
Published 4th Jan 2011, 08:23 BST
Updated 4th Jan 2011, 08:23 BST

Hartlepool referee Tony Harrington had left it as late as possible to see if the pitch would improve after severe overnight frost, but after inspecting at 11.30am, 12.30pm, 1pm and 1.45pm, he had no alternative but to postpone the match as parts of the pitch were unplayable.

York chairman Jason McGill was very disappointed by the call-off although he fully agreed with the referee, whose decision came as the Fleetwood team coach pulled into the York car park.

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McGill said: "We have now lost home matches against Grimsby Town, leaders AFC Wimbledon, both major Saturday fixtures, where we would expect to get a big following of away supporters.

"And we've lost the Christmas and New Year home matches against Gateshead and Fleetwood which traditionally draw our biggest crowds of the season.

"This means we have lost 120,000 and the re-arranged games won't draw anything like that income with fewer away supporters travelling to night matches.

"To clubs like ours it comes as a major blow although we are perhaps more fortunate than some clubs in having our parent company JM Packaging Ltd in the background to provide us with some cash flow."

Related topics:Tony HarringtonFleetwood TownHartlepoolYork