Mick McCarthy was made to wait for his first match as Blackpool manager after Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship home clash with Huddersfield was postponed due to a frozen pitch.
The contest at Bloomfield Road had been set to open McCarthy’s tenure after he was placed in charge of the Seasiders for the remainder of the season on Thursday, succeeding the sacked Michael Appleton.
But a statement from Blackpool at 10.45am on Saturday said: “This afternoon’s game against Huddersfield Town has been postponed due to a frozen pitch.
“Despite the best efforts of the club’s groundstaff with covers and lighting rigs, areas of the playing surface have been deemed too hard to play on.”
Other fixtures from Saturday’s football schedule falling foul to freezing conditions included Lincoln versus Burton and Peterborough against Charlton in League One, the latter being confirmed just after 1.30pm.
Peterborough later announced the club would be “undertaking a full investigation” into the postponement, while chairman Darragh MacAnthony said on Twitter that he and co-owner Jason Neale would personally pay for coaches to take all away fans to the re-arranged fixture as well as offering a full refund to those who could not make it.
In League Two, there were announcements that Barrow’s home match against Salford, Bradford’s clash with Carlisle, Crewe v Stockport, Grimsby v Harrogate, Newport v AFC Wimbledon, Northampton v Mansfield, Sutton v Crawley and Walsall v Swindon had been postponed.
Barrow revealed they were making an official complaint about the decision to postpone their match, with a statement on their official website saying: “Despite a soft playing surface, referee Sam Barrott has taken the decision to postpone this afternoon’s game against Salford City.
“The club can confirm that we have approached PGMOL and the EFL for a written statement to enquire as to why the game has been postponed, and to make an official complaint.
“The club would like to apologise to both Barrow and Salford City fans who travelled for the fixture, please understand this decision was entirely out of the club’s hands and we were both confident and keen for the game to be played.”
On Friday, Bristol Rovers hosting Wycombe and Port Vale’s trip to Morecambe had fallen in League One because of icy pitches, and Doncaster’s League Two game against Tranmere at the Eco-Power Stadium was also postponed on safety grounds.
The Vanarama National League has suffered on account of the bad weather as well with games at Boreham Wood, Eastleigh, Halifax, Gateshead, Maidenhead, Oldham, Solihull, Woking, Yeovil and Chesterfield unable to go ahead.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s race meeting at Haydock was called off due to a frozen track.
Later on Saturday evening, Tottenham announced their Women’s Super League match against Leicester on Sunday at Brisbane Road had been postponed because of a frozen pitch.
