As the current football season battles with severe winter conditions, more amateur matches have been cancelled.
The impact this has on lower league clubs can go unnoticed by the media but games being rescheduled can have a dramatic effect on finances and support.
Northern Premier League side Prescot Cables FC had four consecutive games cancelled this month due to the cold weather.
A club statement said: “The freezing conditions across the country have severely hampered clubs at our out level who do not enjoy the benefits of under soil heating.”
Four in a Row! P-P-P-P ❄️
A Frozen Pitch has unfortunately put pay to our visit to @LancasterCityFC tomorrow.
A new date for this game will be announced in due course.
— Prescot Cables FC (@PrescotCablesFC) January 10, 2025
Crosby-based National League North club Marine have been forced to reimburse fans after their game against Kidderminster fell victim to the big freeze recently, with a club statement reading: “All tickets purchased will be automictically refunded. We apologise for any inconvenience.”
MARINE v KIDDERMINSTER – OFF https://t.co/ERC5wYFlmt pic.twitter.com/0ieJ1QY48E
— Marine Football Club (@MarineAFC) January 10, 2025
Northern Premier League side Warrington Rylands, have also been impacted by the snowy conditions and have had two home games cancelled in January.
Club chairman Mark Pye said: “It does have a huge impact if you look on a normal month and you lose two or three home games. It affects the club; it is a big knock-on effect for local football.
“The only time a game is cancelled here really is through frost; we don’t lose it through waterlog and rain. We are very fortunate it drains well, but other clubs aren’t in that position.”
Rylands play most of their home games on Saturdays at 3pm. When a match is rescheduled to a Tuesday night this negatively impacts the club in terms of support.
Club director, Andy Martin said: “The difference in revenue you take on a Saturday versus the re-arrange fixture on a Tuesday is massive.”
Lower League clubs like Rylands have to work on tight budgets especially when dealing with player wages.
Mark said: “On the club side of things, it does limit the amount of contracted players you can take on, and you have got to look how much that damages you and the club’s got to be able to find that money.”
According to football website, Round Our Way 70% of fans believe that national associations should do more to support local clubs that are affected by the weather.
Many fans also worry when traveling down to games as during the icy periods the surrounding of grounds can be dangerous for fans to go navigate.
For the remainder of the season for Rylands they still have two games in hand due to match cancellations which will need to be played, which could lead to fixture congestion.
