Barnsley v Birmingham was postponed in Feb 2012. Frozen pitch, despite us having under soil heating and I think it was a sunny day. We got the news at 1 o'clock, so we do it too. Can't remember if we've had one since
I think it was the corners particularly where the welcome stand is. Undersoil heating is only effective down to -6 or something so it was the areas where the sun hadnt effected the pitch.
We have had games postponed for that reason, but the Birmingham game was the pitch. Ref did a pitch inspection a couple of hours before the game.
Undersoil heating has done nothing for us as every time I can remember it doing its job of clearing the pitch, the game has been cancelled anyway due to the access to the ground being unsafe.
Some differences between that game and the Charlton one though, in that the pitch became worse overnight before the Birmingham one due to the cold conditions, whereas Charlton knew full well in advance that their pitch was dodgy and nothing happened between Friday afternoon and kick off time to make it any worse.
You'd be surprised. Without the under soil heating I'm sure we'd have lost countless games to the weather.
If I remember correctly, the pitch due to under soil heating was fine initially. But for some reason a roller was used at the Ponty end. This brought water up onto the surface of the pitch and due to the very cold weather the water froze. The sun was too low in the sky to get to the effected area and this was the reason why the Referee postponed the game due to the frozen pitch at the Ponty End
Of course it has. It's job isn't to clear the pitch, it is to limit the impact freezing temperatures. We have far less postponements than we used to due to the weather. And wasn't the unsafe access postponement, an away match? Some folk will just grumble about owt. While we're at it, I'm sure the turn-styles on the West stand are getting smaller!!
We used to get a lot fogged off, at night games at one time, The mist over the Dearne Valley would rise and just sit over Oakwell...Am sure the Liverpool game would have never been played, if it would have been a ...normal..match and not 30k fans turning up.. Also remember walking from the bus station to Oakwell, as clear as a bell..until you got as far as, the crown of the hill where the Oakwell flower corner was, and that was it. Pea Soup at the bottom Where Grove street school was...Strange though, we don't get thoughts fogs any more