Wycombe Wanderers made request for postponed game to be played on Sunday

In a somewhat unusual move, Saturday’s opponents Wycombe Wanderers say that they asked Port Vale if the game could be played the following day.

The clubs announced that the game had been posted on Friday following a pitch inspection. A statement on the Wycombe Wanderers official website said:

An independent match official inspected the Vale Park pitch on Friday morning, consulted with Port Vale’s grounds team and the EFL, and deemed that the forecast temperatures will not be sufficient to thaw the frost in time for kick-off. Wycombe asked that the match be moved to this Sunday (21st January) but Port Vale stated that it could not be achieved for logistical reasons.

It seems an odd request from Wycombe because:

• There wasn’t any obvious guarantee that the pitch would be serviceable 24 hours later. In addition, storm Isha was looming and although due to hit the UK later in the day, it could have caused severe traffic disruption after the game.
• The “logistical reasons” that Vale mentioned would seem to be a perfectly logical response. There would be limited time to inform supporters and check that matchday staff, police, medical staff etc would be able to switch days.
• Unlike Vale, Wycombe have a match on Tuesday. It seems strange to give their players even less time to recover between games.

Details of when the game will now be played have yet to be announced.