Frozen pitches stop matches
2005-12-28 18:17
London - Bolton's Premier League match at home to Middlesbrough on Wednesday has been postponed because of a failure in the undersoil heating at the Reebok Stadium which left the pitch frozen.
The game is the most high profile postponement on a day when wintry weather affected a full programme of Premiership and English Football League fixtures, the bulk of which were due to kick-off at 19:45GMT.
"The undersoil heating system has failed to work in the central areas of the pitch," said a Bolton spokesperson.
"This area is frozen solid and with temperatures plummeting during the rest of the day, it is unsafe to play the game."
Eight fixtures in the Football League were called off, starting with the 12:00GMT kick-off in League Two between Chester and Wrexham.
The evening League One matches between Bournemouth and Barnsley, Doncaster and Brentford, and Milton Keynes Dons and Nottingham Forest were also postponed after pitch inspections.
In League Two, Boston v Carlisle, Notts County v Northampton, Peterborough v Oxford and Shrewsbury v Macclesfield likewise fell victim to the weather.