[Archived] Gillingham away 17.3.18

[den9112]

7 minutes ago, darrenrover said:

bully for you den9112.

If I'd have been in the car I wouldn't have paid either way either because it's on French plates, that's not the point.

People scoffing at today's situation are so out of touch:

I'm sure I speak for all that was in our party, it's not the fact the game was called off but when and what will be done to recompense everyone for their inconvenience and cost?

It's understandable games occasionally get postponed because of the weather but today is an absolute piss take.

Why was the game postponed?

The pitch didn't freeze after the couple of Gillingham fans turned up at 8am to take the covers off, did it?

 

My reply is just a sacarstic remark, it cost me the best part of £80 in fuel today ,plus a wasted 8 hours of my day just sat in a car.

The re-arranged game will cost me another £80 plus a possible overnight stay ...

This is not something i scoff at ,just something i have to accept ,and i for one am totaly pissed off that it didn't go ahead ,yes it was a piss take and Gillingham fc should make a full statement as to why they decided at 11.30am to call the game off when the ref deemed the pitch playable ............

This is from the Gills message board ,maybe a few emails to the chairman Gutted for the Blackburn fans, a lot of them were already in Kent. The game was called off because the Town End was unsafe for around 1,000 away fans. When for Christ sake is Scally going to do something about that stand that has been a 'temporary' stand since 2003.

The pitch was playable, so all those fans who've wasted money in a failed attempt to get to the game should put their expenses in to Scally for a refund. It's his fault for not getting his finger out!

Read more: http://www.gillingham.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=8553&posts=33#ixzz5A26kqGIt

[darrenrover]

5 minutes ago, den9112 said:

My reply is just a sacarstic remark, it cost me the best part of £80 in fuel today ,plus a wasted 8 hours of my day just sat in a car.

The re-arranged game will cost me another £80 plus a possible overnight stay ...

This is not something i scoff at ,just something i have to accept ,and i for one am totaly pissed off that it didn't go ahead ,yes it was a piss take and Gillingham fc should make a full statement as to why they decided at 11.30am to call the game off when the ref deemed the pitch playable ............

This is from the Gills message board ,maybe a few emails to the chairman Gutted for the Blackburn fans, a lot of them were already in Kent. The game was called off because the Town End was unsafe for around 1,000 away fans. When for Christ sake is Scally going to do something about that stand that has been a 'temporary' stand since 2003.

The pitch was playable, so all those fans who've wasted money in a failed attempt to get to the game should put their expenses in to Scally for a refund. It's his fault for not getting his finger out!

Read more: http://www.gillingham.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=8553&posts=33#ixzz5A26kqGIt

I apologise den, I misread your original post, in haste admittedly after what's been a frustrating day!

I will certainly be putting my point forward to both Rovers and Gillingham on behalf of our group and hope others do likewise.

 

[den9112]

As said earlier ,my comment was a sarcastic kinda well all that way etc but at least i have saved a fiver for another day .

I dont complain unless i believe it could be avoidable and i believe in this case it was ,the club had a good idea that to get this game on the away stand would have to be cleared and proved fit and safe for the away fans ,light snow was forecast and any significant amounts would have to be cleared ,the forecast was decent from 11.00am onwards untill around 6.00pm ,they failed to clear it which meant that it was out of there hands and then a health and safety issue ..Thats my take on it , the club will now lose out as the revenue for todays game will be a lot less now its a evening midweek game  ,the difference in takings would have paid for a few taurpaulins to cover the away end ..

 

 

[blueboy3333]

1 hour ago, J*B said:

If nobody reports it how do you expect us to react to it..?

Because my post pointing out he/she was a dingle was removed from another thread. So there was a mod somewhere who was already aware of it. Maybe ask one of the mods who liked your post.

[1864roverite]

2 hours ago, darrenrover said:

I won't be pedantic, despite the temptation but I don't get your logic.

Coz everyone seems to be going on about them instead of concentrating on BRFC??????

[had.e.nuff]

is it just  me that feels like we lost today, just got to hold our nerve now

[Rover_Shaun]

1 hour ago, 1864roverite said:

Coz everyone seems to be going on about them instead of concentrating on BRFC??????

Because whatever we do it may not be enough

[arbitro]

It has been quite a surreal day. I picked my friend up at 9.15 this morning to get the 10.35 from Piccadilly to Euston and the talk was soon about the weather and possibility of a postponement. My friend said that if our game was off we could go to Barnet v Wycombe which was quite prophetic because that's where we ended up. But although we both got a new ground in it was still a frustrating day and we (and it appears lots of others) felt angry at the way we have been treated by Gillingham and their scant disregard for around 1200 people. I can't believe that the decision made at just after 11 am couldn't have been made a few hours earlier to save us all a wasted and expensive journey. Surely the unsafe conditions they used a the reason not to play couldn't have been any worse at 8 am given that there wasn't a lot of snow between them times and the temperature didn't drop. It's unprofessional, disrespectful and unacceptable.

There simply has to be a full explanation from Gillingham with statements from the Stadium Manager, Police and referee giving detailed accounts including time lines on the events of this morning. That has to be made public and Rovers should be pushing for this.

A real source of my frustration is that there is little chance of us being given an honest explanation and we have been ridden over roughshod by a football club and individuals who simply haven't done their jobs. And for us, the supposed lifeblood of the game there is absolutely no recourse. It stinks.

[47er]

8 hours ago, den9112 said:

Just returned from a cloudy but clear Gillingham ,i have no idea why this match was called off,we got told pitch was deemed playable .

Also got told it was some health and safety group ,who ever they are got involved...

 

I blame the EU!  

[Craigyboy]

Could be a blessing in disguise ?

[DannyKeg]

Gillingham is the closest Football League ground for us, we live near Arnhem in the east of the Netherlands. I had booked our tickets and reserved a place for the car on the 12.50 (CET) Eurotunnel shuttle train from Calais to Folkestone a few weeks ago.

 

I was checking the weather forecast on the Dutch, Belgian and U.K. Met office sites all last week. By Friday night the forecast in the Gillingham area was starting to look dodgy, and the Gillingham F.C. website was already calling for volunteers to turn up at their ground at 8 o’clock on Saturday morning to clear the snow from the pitch covers. 

 

My son and I discussed the situation on Friday night and then again at 6am (CET) (5 am GMT) on Saturday morning, by that time the U.K. Met Office had already issued an amber alert for heavy snow in the Gillingham area from 16.00 GMT. We reasoned that if there was going to be a postponement, they would make the announcement early to prevent unnecessary travelling for the away supporters.

 

We set off at 7.30 am (CET) with my wife’s comments that “you must be mad!” ringing in our ears, a scene I could imagine, which was repeated in households throughout the North West that morning. We checked various Twitter accounts and the Gillingham F.C. website regularly and hit some snow around Eindhoven but it cleared up as we crossed the Belgian border. We were driving on the notorious Antwerp ring road about 9.30 (8.30 GMT) and the indications from both the Rovers and Gillingham official Twitter accounts were encouraging and positive about the game. We were happy that we had made the decision to set off and eagerly anticipating the game and meeting up with old friends in the Rovers crowd.

 

We made Calais and the shuttle terminal at 12 o’clock local time, and had just driven onto the train at 12.30 (11.30 GMT) to be hit by a barrage of messages informing us that the game was off. “Disappointment “ doesn’t adequately describe how we felt.

 

We drove off the train at 12.30 GMT and did some shopping at the Folkestone Sainsbury’s, for U.K. foodstuffs you can’t get in the Netherlands (tins of Mushy Peas, packets of Crumpets etc.) we then had lunch in a local pub and headed back for the tunnel. I had booked our return reservation for 18.50 GMT but we were back at the tunnel by 15.00 so it cost me an extra £35 to change the booking to get on the next train.

 

Back in Calais about 17.00 (CET) the roads in northern France and Belgium were completely clear, we made good time and were home again just after 9pm local time.   We weren’t the only ones inconvenienced yesterday, there must have been over a thousand Rovers fans who had planned ahead, set off in good faith and then given false hopes that they they would get to see a game.

 

It’s not so much the wasted expense (although It cost me well over £100) it is the lack of consideration and forward thinking which led to the late announcement that irks me. If the away supporters’ stand was snow and ice bound at 11.30, it would also have been in that state at 8 am. I had seen the Met Office amber alert at 5am (GMT) so that was also available at 8 am. If there were staff at the ground at 8 am, I would imagine the grounds man was there earlier on a match day ? Why did they wait so long to call the game off ? I don’t know the answer, I think we are all owed an explanation.

 

I hope all the travelling fans got home safely as I did, if a little earlier than planned. I won’t be able to make any weekday evening rearranged fixture, so I don’t know what chance I have of seeing the Rovers again this season. My only consolation is that I can have toasted crumpets with my breakfast this morning !

[rigger]

14 hours ago, darrenrover said:

Well I've just got back home after an aborted trip.

16 intrepid Rovers fans were on the M25 approaching the Dartford Crossing when we received the news the game was off. It wasn't a surprise given the forecast but wtf didn't they call it off last night given the weather forecast? The best bet amongst us all was that we'd be 2 up at half time and then Trevor Kettle would call it off.

Joking aside, I'm seriously pi55ed off at the apparent disregard we have as fans, not just Rovers but in general.

Today's bus ride cost £498 for f*uck all but still has to be paid, there will be other independents either by train, bus or car that will have suffered similarly today when anyone with half a brain and with the weather forecast and where WE were housed, the game was likely to be off last night. 

Today's inconvenience and lack of consideration of proper fans, aligned to the reorganisation of the Peterborough home game without a by your leave, says it all for me.

I'm one pi55ed off fan who's significantly out of pocket.

Take some consolation that you didn't cross at Dartford as that would have cost an extra fiver. I must admit that I got to the ground and looking at that stand we were going to be in, I didn't fancy it. Have you seen documentaries with the penguins of the south pole huddled together against a blizzard. Well that is the vision that first came into my mind when I saw the state of the stand at 11:00. I totally agree, the pitch looked fine, but with the weather forecast, the stand we were going to be housed in,  and distances to travel then the game should have been called off, on Friday.   

[arbitro]

23 minutes ago, DannyKeg said:

Gillingham is the closest Football League ground for us, we live near Arnhem in the east of the Netherlands. I had booked our tickets and reserved a place for the car on the 12.50 (CET) Eurotunnel shuttle train from Calais to Folkestone a few weeks ago.

 

I was checking the weather forecast on the Dutch, Belgian and U.K. Met office sites all last week. By Friday night the forecast in the Gillingham area was starting to look dodgy, and the Gillingham F.C. website was already calling for volunteers to turn up at their ground at 8 o’clock on Saturday morning to clear the snow from the pitch covers. 

 

My son and I discussed the situation on Friday night and then again at 6am (CET) (5 am GMT) on Saturday morning, by that time the U.K. Met Office had already issued an amber alert for heavy snow in the Gillingham area from 16.00 GMT. We reasoned that if there was going to be a postponement, they would make the announcement early to prevent unnecessary travelling for the away supporters.

 

We set off at 7.30 am (CET) with my wife’s comments that “you must be mad!” ringing in our ears, a scene I could imagine, which was repeated in households throughout the North West that morning. We checked various Twitter accounts and the Gillingham F.C. website regularly and hit some snow around Eindhoven but it cleared up as we crossed the Belgian border. We were driving on the notorious Antwerp ring road about 9.30 (8.30 GMT) and the indications from both the Rovers and Gillingham official Twitter accounts were encouraging and positive about the game. We were happy that we had made the decision to set off and eagerly anticipating the game and meeting up with old friends in the Rovers crowd.

 

We made Calais and the shuttle terminal at 12 o’clock local time, and had just driven onto the train at 12.30 (11.30 GMT) to be hit by a barrage of messages informing us that the game was off. “Disappointment “ doesn’t adequately describe how we felt.

 

We drove off the train at 12.30 GMT and did some shopping at the Folkestone Sainsbury’s, for U.K. foodstuffs you can’t get in the Netherlands (tins of Mushy Peas, packets of Crumpets etc.) we then had lunch in a local pub and headed back for the tunnel. I had booked our return reservation for 18.50 GMT but we were back at the tunnel by 15.00 so it cost me an extra £35 to change the booking to get on the next train.

 

Back in Calais about 17.00 (CET) the roads in northern France and Belgium were completely clear, we made good time and were home again just after 9pm local time.   We weren’t the only ones inconvenienced yesterday, there must have been over a thousand Rovers fans who had planned ahead, set off in good faith and then given false hopes that they they would get to see a game.

 

It’s not so much the wasted expense (although It cost me well over £100) it is the lack of consideration and forward thinking which led to the late announcement that irks me. If the away supporters’ stand was snow and ice bound at 11.30, it would also have been in that state at 8 am. I had seen the Met Office amber alert at 5am (GMT) so that was also available at 8 am. If there were staff at the ground at 8 am, I would imagine the grounds man was there earlier on a match day ? Why did they wait so long to call the game off ? I don’t know the answer, I think we are all owed an explanation.

 

I hope all the travelling fans got home safely as I did, if a little earlier than planned. I won’t be able to make any weekday evening rearranged fixture, so I don’t know what chance I have of seeing the Rovers again this season. My only consolation is that I can have toasted crumpets with my breakfast this morning !

I will be writing to the EFL later to voice my feelings about the debacle yesterday. I suggest as many people as possible do so and demand all the facts before deciding on a next course of action. I believe Gillingham have a case to answer.

https://www.efl.com/supporters/contact-supporter-services/

[DannyKeg]

19 minutes ago, arbitro said:

I will be writing to the EFL later to voice my feelings about the debacle yesterday. I suggest as many people as possible do so and demand all the facts before deciding on a next course of action. I believe Gillingham have a case to answer.

https://www.efl.com/supporters/contact-supporter-services/

Good tip, I’ve sent them an email, let’s see how they react (I’m not holding my breath).

 

[Ossydave]

Sick of this snowflake country we live in. 

[tomphil]

9 hours ago, 47er said:

I blame the EU!  

I'm amazed nobody has blamed Brexit yet the weather has got gradually worse since that vote  

[Stuart]

20 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

Sick of this snowflake country we live in. 

Local grassroots have called off all INDOOR GAMES this morning!

We can all thank Stella Liebeck and Robert H. Scott for the world we now live in. And it has cock all to do with health and safety.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Blame them bloody Russians I tells thee!

[AggyBlue]

53 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

Sick of this snowflake country we live in. 

Long gone are the times when we stood on uncovered terracing covered in two or three inches of snow. It happened every winter and was part and parcel.

I got chucked out at Oldham once for throwing snowballs 

[JHRover]

11 hours ago, arbitro said:

It has been quite a surreal day. I picked my friend up at 9.15 this morning to get the 10.35 from Piccadilly to Euston and the talk was soon about the weather and possibility of a postponement. My friend said that if our game was off we could go to Barnet v Wycombe which was quite prophetic because that's where we ended up. But although we both got a new ground in it was still a frustrating day and we (and it appears lots of others) felt angry at the way we have been treated by Gillingham and their scant disregard for around 1200 people. I can't believe that the decision made at just after 11 am couldn't have been made a few hours earlier to save us all a wasted and expensive journey. Surely the unsafe conditions they used a the reason not to play couldn't have been any worse at 8 am given that there wasn't a lot of snow between them times and the temperature didn't drop. It's unprofessional, disrespectful and unacceptable.

There simply has to be a full explanation from Gillingham with statements from the Stadium Manager, Police and referee giving detailed accounts including time lines on the events of this morning. That has to be made public and Rovers should be pushing for this.

A real source of my frustration is that there is little chance of us being given an honest explanation and we have been ridden over roughshod by a football club and individuals who simply haven't done their jobs. And for us, the supposed lifeblood of the game there is absolutely no recourse. It stinks.

Times like these we need Rovers to stand up and fight for the fans, but sadly I think there's a culture of 'go with the flow' at Ewood and do as they are told for minimum aggravation. Nobody is going to stand up and probe the events of yesterday and push for further action to be taken if necessary.

I'll be surprised if we hear any more from either club on this matter, which is unacceptable and disrespectful. 

[Waggy76]

47 minutes ago, AggyBlue said:

Long gone are the times when we stood on uncovered terracing covered in two or three inches of snow. It happened every winter and was part and parcel.

I got chucked out at Oldham once for throwing snowballs 

Huddersfield mid 80s springs to mind !

Something very suspicious about yesterdays postponement. .

[Waggy76]

Not sure about this but didnt Gillingham have a game postponed more than 24 hrs before the game , 3 weeks ago ? 

[tomphil]

I think it will be a number of factors that ended up with the postponement but it'll never come to light they'll just nail it down to H&S or the Police.

Pitch was playable and Gillingham knew about the weather for days before and how many fans were going down but by the looks of it no effort at all had gone into preparing that stand.  Some other factor or two has most likely weighed in as well.

[JHRover]

A breakdown of my day out for those interested:

7:30am train from Manchester to Euston, arrived approx 9:40am. Transferred to St Pancras, train to Gillingham at 10:20am. Arrived in Gillingham at 11:05am. On the way through the picturesque scenery of northern Kent I noted that the amount of snow on the ground increased the closer we got to Gillingham, though there was very little if anything falling.

On arrival located a group of Rovers friends in a nearby micropub and sat down ready to embark on a few hours of real ale. Barely got through the first half pint when the calls began to arrive informing that the game was off.

Polished off a couple of pints before walking up to the Priestfield stadium to see for myself what it was like. Areas around the ground were absolutely fine, clear of any snow or ice. Still no snow/rain only a bitterly cold wind.

Visited another nearby pub where we met with three disappointed Dutch Rovers supporters who had arrived that morning. A few pints before returning to the station disappointed and returning to London. 

Considerably out of pocket and now facing a day or two off work to repeat the whole thing over again. 

I understand that there's nothing that can be done with the weather, but when the pitch and surrounding areas are fine, and the concern is about the safety of a temporary stand, then it seems to me that Gillingham FC are to blame. It isn't an act of god that their temporary uncovered stand is deemed to be unsafe when wet/snowy. A couple of hours with shovels and icethaw would clear it all away leaving it wet. If the stand can't be used when wet then it should be condemned.

 

[AllRoverAsia]

Just now, tomphil said:

I think it will be a number of factors that ended up with the postponement but it'll never come to light they'll just nail it down to H&S or the Police.

Pitch was playable and Gillingham knew about the weather for days before and how many fans were going down but by the looks of it no effort at all had gone into preparing that stand.  Some other factor or two has most likely weighed in as well.

I was earlier reading a Gills MB where posters felt that with a little planning all the Rovers fans could easily have been housed under cover by moving a few of their's, but the Club did nowt.