Walsall shambles an insult to fans 30th DECEMBER 2009

WALSALL SHAMBLES IS AN INSULT TO FANS

Even with a refund on the ticket the average Canary fan must be about £40 out of pocket following the Walsall fiasco. Fortunately because of where I was staying I only had a two hour round trip but having paid for parking, a pre-match drink and petrol I was not only down in the mouth but also down in the wallet. Had I been faced immediately with the prospect of a foggy three hour drive back to Norfolk my mood would have been further worsened.

Opinions seem to vary on just what happened in terms of the decision-making process, the referee’s strength of character regarding making the decision to call the game off, the extent to which he was influenced by the managers, and perhaps by Paul Lambert in particular, and so on. One can hardly blame the City boss for not wanting to risk the safety of his players and indeed for possibly preferring to have the game played at a later date when several key players (Askou, Smith, Hughes) might have returned to fitness. However, the eventual scenario, with the game being called off as late as it was, can only be regarded as an insult to the supporters of both teams but in particular to the travelling Canary fans.

There was a sense of complete disbelief as we stood outside the ground to hear the PA announcement that the game had been postponed. The Yellow Army was gathering in force and the first few chants of ‘On The Ball City’ had been raised only moments before. On entering the ground I’m afraid I was even less impressed. If, in this modern era, where even League One players are paid thousands of pounds per week the best that a club can do in an attempt to thaw out a playing surface is import a few old-fashioned braziers then some serious questions should be being asked somewhere along the line. What a joke! I half-expected to see the affable Walsall stewards standing around warming their hands! It might not be possible for all clubs to have undersoil heating (although in a relatively new stadium such as Walsall’s it should be a given) but either they should make an effective stand against the frost with some effective ground covering or they should have the plain commonsense to call a game off in sufficient time to stop travelling supporters from wasting their time and money.

This is just the sort of PR disaster that clubs can do without. The average supporter already feels taken for granted by most clubs but continues to shell out £3 for a programme, £1.50 for a cup of hot water with a threepenny tea bag in it or £2.20 for a plastic bottle of beer which would cost 50p in the supermarket ,on top of hefty ticket prices (£18 at Stockport, Yeovil, Exeter or Walsall for example to watch a game in pretty average circumstances) for the privilege of following their team and generally speaking we are a fairly uncomplaining lot. And I’m referring here not just to us Canary fans but to the tens of thousands who travel up and down the country week, in week out to show their colours. Granted the odd few mouth off on phone-ins or message boards but if you consider how many more just accept their lot and get on with it you have to conclude that most will put up with a fair amount of inconvenience. Which is exactly why today’s fiasco is such an insult. Simply because no-one at Walsall had the nous to look at the situation last night or even early this morning and observe that owing to insufficient cover the pitch was not likely to be entirely playable, to take into account the weather forecast then to get hold of the referee who himself should then have had the wit to make an early ruling, thousands of people have been hugely taken for granted on one of the few public holidays of the year.

I was honestly quite staggered by the way that the farcical outcome at Walsall was accepted by the crowd. Barring a few disgruntled chants of ‘The referee’s a w*****’,  I saw little sign of malcontentment. Most seemed just to accept the decision and started to make their way home. Now I am not advocating public disorder but quiet acceptance of such abuse is simply asking for it to happen again. I have already e-mailed Walsall FC with my views and I would urge all Norwich fans to do the same. I think the least we can expect is a proper apology and an acceptance of the blame for their failure to prepare for the game appropriately instead of some mealy-mouthed waffle from their Chief Executive trying to blame our manager for Walsall’s amateurish conduct. Perhaps they could offer free-parking for us all when we eventually go back for the rearranged fixture.