Interesting one in the WSL - postponed after 6 minutes due to frozen pitch
He's being used as a scapegoat by the FA if it's true. Very poor example set from them!Emma Hayes on her interview post match said the Referee “called it unfit at 9:30am - but they’d give it until 2pm”.
That sounds to me like he’s been leant on by the FA or the League
Recall something similar at Plymouth in recent years, regularly does the rounds on SocialsReferees will always come under pressure to play televised games. Can't remember the teams (think Luton were one of them), but there was one game a few years ago where the pitch was pretty much under water yet was played in farcical conditions.
Ah yes, this oneRecall something similar at Plymouth in recent years, regularly does the rounds on Socials
It was only one touchline, presumably where the pitch was shielded from the sun by the stand. They probably didn't warm up there.It is strange the warm ups didn’t alert the players, managers & referee the players couldn’t stand up on the frozen surface.
I doubt if we'll ever get an honest answer, but this is almost certainly a case of 'pressure to play' after the cost of TV cameras, travel, accommodation etc. have been taken into account. Whether it's just a case of the referee trying his best to please everyone, or feeling that his chance to appear on TV (for the first time? Anyone know?) would be his last? Or something more sinister, i.e. FA officials intervening (which I doubt) it doesn't reflect well on the organisation as a whole and needs a thorough investigation to try and prevent a repeat in the future.Rumours that officials tried to call it off but were overruled, but they remain unsubstantiated.
Could’ve been the FA, as it was a televised game. Could’ve been the broadcast partners. Could even have been Chelsea themselves - the “we’ve done all this work to get it on. At least give it a go” argument.
The stony silence isn’t helping anyone.
Neil has done several televised games.I doubt if we'll ever get an honest answer, but this is almost certainly a case of 'pressure to play' after the cost of TV cameras, travel, accommodation etc. have been taken into account. Whether it's just a case of the referee trying his best to please everyone, or feeling that his chance to appear on TV (for the first time? Anyone know?) would be his last? Or something more sinister, i.e. FA officials intervening (which I doubt) it doesn't reflect well on the organisation as a whole and needs a thorough investigation to try and prevent a repeat in the future.
I agree TV pressure, approved by the FA, the touchline in the pictures is exactly where AR was running, she presumably checked her touchline and I am surprised she could turn & sprint considering the players looked like Bambi on ice on this touchline.It was only one touchline, presumably where the pitch was shielded from the sun by the stand. They probably didn't warm up there.
Some of that makes sense, but I'm not sure I buy that a pitch that was "absolutely playable" at 11:30 wasn't playable an hour later. Especially as the temperature in London was rising at that time, not going the other way.Seems there’s been something of an explanation here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64380218
I’m pasting the text as I read it as articles get changed/updated/redacted/obfuscated but this is correct as at time of posting!
———
The head of referees in the Women's Super League admits they must "take a lot of learning" after the game between Chelsea and Liverpool was abandoned.
Sunday's game was called off after six minutes because of a frozen pitch.
The pitch had passed an inspection to kick off as scheduled at 12:30 GMT.
Bibiana Steinhaus-Webb, women's director of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), said: "We do understand fans and TV, but player safety is our one and only target."
Referee Neil Hair called off the game - staged at Kingsmeadow in Kingston upon Thames, London, and shown live on BBC Two - because of an unsafe pitch, with officials criticised for allowing it to start in the first place.
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes said the women's game must be taken more "seriously", and Liverpool boss Matt Beard said: "It shouldn't have been played in the first place."
Former England and Brighton manager Hope Powell, working as a BBC pundit for the game, described the situation as "embarrassing".
Steinhaus-Webb, who heads up officiating in the women's professional game in England, told BBC Sport on Monday: "We take a lot of learning from the weekend.
"The only person who can abandon that match is the referee, and he gave the game the best chance to be on.
"He put everything in context and consideration, for fans, TV viewers and teams. However we need to take player safety as main priority."
Steinhaus-Webb pointed to an early incident involving Chelsea's Erin Cuthbert as a factor in the abandonment.
"Players were sliding around in the first minute," she said. "Cuthbert stretched for the ball in the first minute and landed on her backside, if she landed on her head that could have caused serious damage. We can't allow that to happen."
Steinhaus-Webb defended the measures taken by the Football Association to try to get games on, saying it spent about £40,000 in heating and pitch covers.
She said it had monitored weather forecasts from Monday to see how conditions would affect the weekend's games, and that referee Hair and his team had contacted Chelsea on Saturday with concerns about the pitch given the cold, before being able to first inspect the pitch at 09:30 GMT on Sunday - three hours before kick-off.
Steinhaus-Webb said: "At 9.30, the first time the referee looked at it, he was not convinced the surface was playable. However, he was in close contact with the ground staff, and with the heating on full power, you can actually immediately see the change in the surface.
"A second pitch inspection was then decided before warm-up; this time it was absolutely playable, it was fine during the warm-up. When the teams came for the line-up, there was a slight change in the surface because the heating made it humid on the top.
"The grounds team, who know their surface best, said it would hold up, but with this thin layer of humidity, it deteriorated again. It made a thin layer of hard surface on top very quickly, so after six minutes the referee made the tough decision to abandon the match for the safety of players, which is paramount."
Players warm up, that's the clue, close to kick off, so they are warm come kick off, likely go in 10 to 15 mins before kick off, the pitch deteriorated from "it was absolutely playable, it was fine during the warm-up." to "teams came for the line-up, there was a slight change in the surface because the heating made it humid on the top", so now totally unplayable, see the video pictures of players looking like it was a skating rink.Seems there’s been something of an explanation here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64380218
I’m pasting the text as I read it as articles get changed/updated/redacted/obfuscated but this is correct as at time of posting!
———
The head of referees in the Women's Super League admits they must "take a lot of learning" after the game between Chelsea and Liverpool was abandoned.
Sunday's game was called off after six minutes because of a frozen pitch.
The pitch had passed an inspection to kick off as scheduled at 12:30 GMT.
Bibiana Steinhaus-Webb, women's director of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), said: "We do understand fans and TV, but player safety is our one and only target."
Referee Neil Hair called off the game - staged at Kingsmeadow in Kingston upon Thames, London, and shown live on BBC Two - because of an unsafe pitch, with officials criticised for allowing it to start in the first place.
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes said the women's game must be taken more "seriously", and Liverpool boss Matt Beard said: "It shouldn't have been played in the first place."
Former England and Brighton manager Hope Powell, working as a BBC pundit for the game, described the situation as "embarrassing".
Steinhaus-Webb, who heads up officiating in the women's professional game in England, told BBC Sport on Monday: "We take a lot of learning from the weekend.
"The only person who can abandon that match is the referee, and he gave the game the best chance to be on.
"He put everything in context and consideration, for fans, TV viewers and teams. However we need to take player safety as main priority."
Steinhaus-Webb pointed to an early incident involving Chelsea's Erin Cuthbert as a factor in the abandonment.
"Players were sliding around in the first minute," she said. "Cuthbert stretched for the ball in the first minute and landed on her backside, if she landed on her head that could have caused serious damage. We can't allow that to happen."
Steinhaus-Webb defended the measures taken by the Football Association to try to get games on, saying it spent about £40,000 in heating and pitch covers.
She said it had monitored weather forecasts from Monday to see how conditions would affect the weekend's games, and that referee Hair and his team had contacted Chelsea on Saturday with concerns about the pitch given the cold, before being able to first inspect the pitch at 09:30 GMT on Sunday - three hours before kick-off.
Steinhaus-Webb said: "At 9.30, the first time the referee looked at it, he was not convinced the surface was playable. However, he was in close contact with the ground staff, and with the heating on full power, you can actually immediately see the change in the surface.
"A second pitch inspection was then decided before warm-up; this time it was absolutely playable, it was fine during the warm-up. When the teams came for the line-up, there was a slight change in the surface because the heating made it humid on the top.
"The grounds team, who know their surface best, said it would hold up, but with this thin layer of humidity, it deteriorated again. It made a thin layer of hard surface on top very quickly, so after six minutes the referee made the tough decision to abandon the match for the safety of players, which is paramount."