Manchester’s City late decision to postpone this afternoon’s game against West Ham has been slammed by West Ham supporters already in Manchester or on their way to the Etihad stadium.
The Met Office warned about Storm Ciara with winds up to 90 mph on Thursday lunchtime so it should have come as little surprise to football authorities.
Claret and Hugh reached out to both West Ham and the Premier League on Thursday to ask if the game could be postponed but were told the game was likely to go ahead.
West Ham and British transport police advised travelling West Ham fans on Friday to allow more time and to travel up early because of adverse weather conditions. Hammers fans heeded that warning and many left early this morning.
News broke on social media that Manchester City were having a Safety meeting at 10 am with a decision expected by 11 am but that meeting was not widely publicised.
At 11.15 am Manchester City announced the decision to postpone the game saying it had been made by their Manchester City safety officer after consultation with other stakeholders which were presumably Greater Manchester Police and Manchester Council who issues the safety certificate for the Etihad.
While public safety should always come first in this kind of situations it could be argued that the delay in making the decision was more likely from perceived pressure from broadcasters with a global TV audience of many millions wanting to watch the game.
It could also be argued that the decision should have been made on Friday before West Ham fans put themselves at risk by travelling to Manchester.
Maybe Sky, the Premier League and Manchester City can put some money into a fund to compensate West Ham fans for their out of pocket expenses for needless dangerous journies.
After losing to the Spuds they needed all the luck they could get . And got in a huge way .
Lucky City 🤣 so what happens now ? To accommodate Skysports . This game could have gone ahead . Football has been played in atrocious conditions for years .
City running scared .
Sean, you havent even mentioned the fact that the match in sheffield 30 miles away with identical weather conditions still went ahead? How on earth is that allowed to happen?? I have written to Man City to complain. Horrid plastic club. Fans are treated like dog turd. Nobody cares. Football just feels all wrong at the moment.
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Manchester Now!
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That’s just rain and strong winds they are in a stadium that will mitigate some of the wind. Poor show mind you the way City players go over they were probably frightened they might fly away like balloons 😂😂😂
thats a link to the weather in manchester? i didnt question the weather in manchester? my post asked how identical weather in sheffield meant their game went ahead? If youd posted a link to glorious blue skies and a light breeze from the Sheffield Post then fair enough. Apparently 60 mph wind in sheffield is less dangerous than 60mph winds in manchester. You literally couldnt make it up.
I was looking at the ground from the city centre, it wasn’t even that windy, in fact by 12.00 it wasn’t a bad day.
It’s an absolute joke, now on train on way back it really is a disgrace.
These clubs should reimburse our train fares and tickets.
No idea why it was called off, City can’t win the league without a miracle probably an attempt by sky to deny us some tv revenue.
If it had been called off the night before then the waether eased even more complaints.
The club should subsidized supporters.
It’ll all be frustrasting for players without a game in 3 weeks.
But an easy solution would be to us play next Sat 3pm-no TV- or Sunday 16th at 12.00 TV coverage not good for supporters but’s either these dates or a midweek . I know which one I’ll rather have .
Deduct points!!! We will have six to compensate for trauma to fans! Get the lawyers in.