Award-winning Town groundsman Alan Ferguson said he was gutted after the Blues’ Boxing Day home game against Watford succumbed to the weather. Referee Grant Hegley called the match off at 1.15pm because a small area of frost on the pitch in front of the Cobbold Stand.

Ferguson, who had employed the club’s tent and hot air blower in the days prior to the game, explained what happened to the club site: "We took the covers off at about 11am and the pitch looked fine. But as we got to the east side of the ground [Cobbold Stand], there was a small area of frost.

“What had happened, I think, was that the condensation that had built up froze as we pulled the covers off, with the air in the stadium still at zero.

"We attempted to thaw that small area out by pouring boiling water on to the pitch and then forking it. When you know the soil underneath the frost is OK, you can fork through to it and it softens up.

"It was working and the referee was fine with 95 per cent of the pitch but he wouldn't go beyond 1.15pm and when he looked at it, he made his decision.”

Ferguson says that had he and his staff been given longer they might have resolved the situation: "I think we could have made it but there was no way he was going to shift on the time.

“I know Stuart Attwell [who refereed the Leicester game] got a lot of criticism for playing the game here last week, so perhaps he didn't want to start the game and then have to take another look if the temperatures dropped in the second half.

"I'm gutted that the game didn't take place. I could accept it if it was the whole pitch but it was five per cent."

Tickets for today’s match will be valid for the restaged game with non-season ticket holders who don’t want to attend the rearranged match having until kick-off on the new yet to be set date to obtain a refund.

Photo: Action Images

RetroBlue added 10:00 - Dec 27 Good old Town fans eh! MOAN,.....MOAN....MOAN ....MOAN......MOAN..... MOAN,.....MOAN....MOAN ....MOAN......MOAN..... MOAN,.....MOAN....MOAN ....MOAN......MOAN..... MOAN,.....MOAN....MOAN ....MOAN......MOAN..... MOAN,.....MOAN....MOAN ....MOAN......MOAN.....
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blueoff added 10:02 - Dec 27 Hermann, I thought your typo was as WE took the covers off !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Hermann_eats_puffin added 10:04 - Dec 27 So Blackpool are professional for having their last three games called off? Surely the fact that we made the effort to get the game on is the right way to get things done. The club believed that the game would be on because they cover the pitch. & blow hot air over it, unlike Blackpools pathetic attempts. We're all frustrated about our wasted journey's yesterday but there's no need for yet another outpouring of anger all day long. It's weather that caused the game to be off & there were plenty of other games that couldn't be played. It was not an evil conspiracy designed to ruin Christmas for Town fans.

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grumpyoldman added 10:13 - Dec 27 blueoff, we have a great groundsman doing the job he loves at a stadium he loves, with all the experience & knowledge he has at his command. Who the cares about your opinion, unless you have an in depth knowledge of the preparation of sports fields. If you were an expert perhaps Mr Ferguson would have consulted you as he did not, keep your pathetic ramblings to those in the nut house you must occupy. Mr Ferguson is a LEGEND,

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blueoff added 10:15 - Dec 27 Hermann don't be so dim mate, it's not the game being called off, it's the fact that it should have been called off hours earlier & then the club have the cheek to let the ref carry the blame, very poor way to carry on
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Basil_Smallpiece added 10:28 - Dec 27 Morning GITS! (copyright B Smallpiece Val d'Isere). Fiasco and the blame lies with the Club. The Leicester match went ahead when it should not have because TV money depended on it. An earthquake would not have stopped the greedy owner from staging it. Yesterday didn't matter. No financial loss to the Club, so why bother getting everyone out of bed? Apart from the fans, that is. Sod the fans. Let them travel and be disappointed. They'll get over it. FORK! POMS! COYB!

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blueherts added 11:05 - Dec 27 If the frost was only on the wide areas alas , we would have been perfectly ok to play - I cant remember the last time we used any wide players !! 0 Connor is best bet - Oh yes he was railroaded in a keane 'light' training session .
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WickedBlue added 11:59 - Dec 27 @blueoff you slag off one of the best groundsman in the country? You're a d*ckhead....same goes for anyone else slagging Fergie off p*ss off to Norwich retards......
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Bluemania added 12:33 - Dec 27 TractorRoyNo1 WHY are you blaming Roy Keane what has he got to do with match being called off just looking for another excuse to slag him off, nothing new there then
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tractorboy2434 added 12:38 - Dec 27 No problem with the game being called off, but should have happened much earlier to stop people travelling unnecessarily, too expensive for the fans.
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Pique added 13:07 - Dec 27 WickedBlue: Well said, couldn't agree more. I just hope Alan Ferguson doesn't read this site and some of the comments posted here by 'fans'. It's one thing to have a go at Keane, Clegg and individual players; whether the criticism they receive is fair or not, they're highly paid people in the public eye and should be big enough to take it. But to slag off a loyal and dedicated club servant who's never done anything but his best for this club, and who, moreover, has proved himself to be arguably the best in the country at what he does, is beneath contempt.

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h32 added 13:08 - Dec 27 Is there any need for some of the totally ridiculous posts on here ?? - some people completely miss the point being made, and are nothing but abusive to obviously intelligent people with constructive comment to make. Time to just smile and give it a miss I think.
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Dale added 13:59 - Dec 27 That's a bit harsh on him. I'm sure he did the best he could.
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RRanger added 15:00 - Dec 27 Blueoff had just shot to the top of my Premier Prat league table overtaking longstanding league leader Bobble who had been just ahead of Whoppit but with a late surge Blueoff has retaken the lead!
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Blue041273 added 16:24 - Dec 27 As one who travelled with more hope than judgement to this fixture I was hugely disappointed but not totally surprised by the postponement. When you have prolonged periods of sub-zero temperatures it is very difficult to sustain conditions which provide a perfect playing surface. It sounds to me like a massive effort was put in by the groundstaff when the rest of us were enjoying the Christmas holiday and they were ultimately undone by a freak of nature. However on a different note the Club seemingly has developed a habit of shooting itself in the foot and yesterday we saw the ridiculous decision to close the Club shop at 2.00pm, even though previously advertising opening until 3.00pm, purely on the basis of the postponement, when crowds were still arriving unaware that the game was off. These was a shabby way to treat people who would have been willing to part with good money for the benefit of the club and it was clear that to many people, particularly some of the small kids I saw, that this was just as disappointing as the postponement itself.

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TractorRoyNo1 added 19:20 - Dec 27 that'll be the guy who wins 'groundsman of the year' from his fellow professionals on a regualat basis blueoff added 23:39 - Dec 26 Oh and another thing, what sort of groundsman would agree to boiling water and salt being spread on his pitch, unbelievable !!!!!!
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bluelady added 09:57 - Dec 28 Blueoff your joking yeah? Your posts are on here for a laugh and not for real u assume?? Had me in stitches anyway, great impression of someone who knows nowt about football!!!!! Blue chick ask blackpool about undersoil heating!!!!!!!
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Upbeat~ added 14:23 - Dec 28 BlueOff do you actually support Ipswich? If so then criticising the best groundsman in the country is hardly the way of showing it. I was annoyed as well - gave the people I go with an unnecessary 300 mile journey. Still, to blame Ferguson and suggest that he is unfit to do his job is utterly ridiculous and pathetic. It just shows the lengths some 'fans' will go to in order to disparage our club. Postponements are disappointing for all involved. I agree the referee should have inspected the pitch earlier and saved everyone a trip to the ground. Still, Ferguson's a legend and I think you should back off, before you embarrass yourself further.

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Nscarff added 12:07 - Jan 8 The idea behind boiling water is to increase the soil temperature you pillock Blueoff, because below the millimeteres of frost the soil was about +4degrees. How many of you would have worked christmas day at 6/7 in the morning, especially with three kids at home. Well Mr Ferguson did. The idea that Marcus Evans didnt care about this game is a load of crap, it still cost him £100,000. And a Sky game is only worth about £80,000 extra to a championship team. Ferguson clearly knows what he's doing, as mentioned he was approached for the Wembley job, Pitch of the Year winner in the Premier league and Championship, he's a UEFA consultant, and an SIS (Support in Sport) Non-exec director, meaning teams like Real Madrid, Sporting Lisbon, Benfica, Ajax ask him for advice on pitch maintenance, re-turf's etc. To have had 2 games called off in 14 years is a fantastic record, especially when you consider Arsenal have had that many called off since they moved to The Emirates, one of the most state-of-the-art stadiums/pitches in the world.

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