Chief executive Simon Clegg says the Blues are abiding by Football League regulations by offering a 50% discount on matchday tickets to the restaging of today’s abandoned Town-Middlesbrough fixture, but no refund. Referee Dean Whitestone called a 37th-minute halt to the match with the score 0-0 due to areas of the Portman Road pitch having become unplayable.

Clegg told TWTD: “We are guided by Football League regulations on these matters and the terms and conditions to cover this eventuality are printed on the back of a ticket.”

The Blues chief executive has sympathy for both supporters and the club staff who worked on the pitch: “It’s disappointing but at the end of the day the decision was taken by the referee and it was a decision which was outside our control.

“I feel sorry for all the people there, especially the fans who have travelled some distance to get to Portman Road today, and I feel sorry for the groundstaff, who worked through the night last night and have been working on that pitch since Wednesday when the bubble went up.

“We need to recognise that it was an extreme situation last night for the temperature to have dropped so low.

“I was walking around the pitch yesterday and it was soft. We experienced some extreme temperatures and that was recognised by those that worked on the pitch through the night and appropriate measures were taken.”

Both managers agreed that the surface was playable when the bubble was removed an hour or so before kick-off but once open to sub-zero temperatures, areas of the pitch began to harden up.

Clegg added: “The sun was on part of the pitch but not on the whole pitch, that's the way Portman Road is constructed, and out of the sun it was cold.

“Every area of the pitch is different, holds moisture in a different way and is affected by many things - how much direct heat they get and how much sun.

“I went down to the pitch and had a look at it after the referee had taken the players off and it was hard down the Britannia touchline.”

He says particular areas are more problematic than others: “We have a challenge in the south-east corner, the corner between the Cobbold and the South Stand, and the south-west corner, the corner between the Britannia and the South Stand, because they are the areas of the ground which get very little natural light and are the worst affected.”

Town held a ticketing trial at the Boro game with prices reduced by 25% and Clegg isn’t ruling out further similar initiatives later in the season: “I’m not going to rush into any knee-jerk reactions. Certainly the numbers today were under 20,000, but were close to it.

“I need to look at it against everything that has to be taken into account, not least the wins against West Ham and Coventry, and the impact they would have had on the gate, and the fact that there may have been some people who decided they weren’t going to come because of the weather conditions.

“I need to look at all the factors before coming to any view as to what may or may not be read into the outcome of the ticket promotion. We’ll see where we get to on that next week. It needs to be considered properly and appropriately in the fullness of time taking into account all the facts.”

Photo: Action Images

Photo: Action Images

itfchorry added 21:54 - Feb 11 Never tired of posting this - Clegg Out
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itfchorry added 21:54 - Feb 11 Never tired of posting this - Clegg Out
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simon420 added 22:00 - Feb 11 Shame we couldn't of tried to get him involved in the swap deal for the 3 pompey players, im sure with Clegg's football and business prowess that he could of really turned their club around. hahahaha :)
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runaround added 22:06 - Feb 11 Unless the club is very careful here, they will lose all the fans who they were trying to tempt back to Portman Road today plus more of those who still go. Approx Between 2000 and 3000 more home fans than usual were at the game today and as well as the increased ticket revenue they may well have bought programmes, merchandise and food/drink. If today's game had been exciting and enjoyable, just perhaps some of those fans would have started to attend matches on a more regular basis. Now although its bad luck what happened with the weather today the club has 2 ways it can go now, either let those who kept their ticket stub in for free for the rearranged fixture or charge them the 50% price as mentioned. If the club choose the latter, this will mean fans will have forked out more than for the full-price of even the most expensive match. I believe if the club do this, hardly any of those extra supporters will attend where as if it were free entry then a lot will(obviously excluding those who cannot make the rearranged date). These extra people will once again buy programmes etc getting the club more money and once again perhaps being persuaded to come again. Playing the rearranged match just in front of season ticket holders because you've p****d off the other fans will not only cost the club money(as season ticket holders wont pay again hence club getting barely any gate revenue that night to pay the costs of staging a match)but is likely to make it a lot harder to ever persuade those fans to return. It seems good business sense to me to take the hit on ticket costs and get the fans in for free, will be good PR and will benefit club in long run, ME is successful businessman and will surely see this, wont he??? If not then it proves how out of touch him and Clegg truly are with the fanbase.

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Happy2bBlue added 22:06 - Feb 11 The league rules state that a 50% discount is just a minimum requirement intended to protect fans in the event of an abandoned match, it doesn't prevent the club from from offering a full discount should they wish. I'm sure that on Monday when Clegg realises his latest PR disaster a full discount will be offerred to those who purchased a match day for today. When this happens I don't know what will annoy me the most the slimy backtracking or the total incompetence in the first place. This guy is 100% focused on money and the fans are just a small part of the equation, the heart is being ripped out of our club and we have seen more evidence of this today.

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PSGBlue added 22:11 - Feb 11 Simple answer, undersoil heating. Ok, it cost £1.5 M but it will be worth it. It heats the pitch evenly, to a depth of a few cms and not just the top layer like the bubble and we could leave it on till the last minute. ITFC are supposed to be running a professional business. If in Mr Clegg's wildest dreams we go up and attract 30,000 will we still be using this 1990's technology to protect the pitch?

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Mark added 22:20 - Feb 11 Surely a club can CHOOSE to reimburse fans for the tickets? Hiding behind football league regulations seems weak and widens still further the gap between fans and the club. Forget the future 50% discount and the coincidental 25% price cut today, fans today paid for 90 minutes of Championship football and got under 37 minutes of football which does not even count towards the Championship. If we saw a goal that would not have counted so would not have been a real goal. Morally the club should refund 100% and I am surprised it is even legal that they do not have to refund 100%. What would happen if fans complained to their credit card companies that money had been taken for a product not provided?

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wrightyblue added 22:21 - Feb 11 Let's be hearing you! From next game we should be calling for clegg's head until he leaves. COYB .
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itfchorry added 22:21 - Feb 11 Dear All Please note that Evans and Clegg have just tied up A deal involving the ticket allocation for the Irish at the Olympics. Clegg has no understanding of football and is a danger to this once proud and rather rare Football Club
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mightytown added 22:26 - Feb 11 i dont care if it is in line witj fa guidlines, if you really want to pack the stadium out, as a gesture offer free tickts or a refund. never really had a problem with clegg but he does seem a rather toff nosed turd epitomising a greedy football club
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itfchorry added 22:26 - Feb 11 Wrighty Blue With you all the way Clegg Out
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millerman added 22:26 - Feb 11 9am Monday morning - Clegg brain inspection. Result - frozen brain cells resulting in the postponement of further action on behalf of a once proud club.
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ALMac added 22:37 - Feb 11 I Hope in the coming days when Mr Clegg given time, comes up with something better than the cheap cop out we heard today, considering todays ticket policy was meant to encourage people back to Portman Road, we all love our club but sometimes they do make it bloody hard work.
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OrkneyBlue added 22:48 - Feb 11 50% off normal prices or the promo price? Either way it's a tad rough.
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leroy2488 added 22:51 - Feb 11 I'm certain I heard Mr. Clegg on radio Suffolk claiming quite strongly in a silly voice that he does not deal in any kind of speculation, surly if the decision is going to be made next week, today's announcements were 100 % speculation?
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jas0999 added 22:56 - Feb 11 Clegg is completely hopeless. Whatever anyone says this man is a complete joke and along with PJ are the reasons why (last two games apart) this club are struggling. Clegg FAILED to deliver YET AGAIN in January and now alienates himself and the club from the fans. This nonescene before Christmas that progress has been made under PJ, then the 'I don't care less what the fans think' and now this. ITFC is in a complete mess. Untill both Clegg and Jewell leave things won't improve. PS - anyone who wants to argue PJ is brilliant because of two results - good for you - we have lost OVER HALF of our games this season. Not good enough and PJ's failure to address the defence is a real worry. PJ and CLEGG OUT.

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dugoutdave added 22:58 - Feb 11 Let's hold on here before you hang him high over this. I suspect Clegg, like him or not (and I am yet to be convinced either way) still has to presumably refer to such matters to Marcus Evans. I suspect before giving back a substantial amount of a refund money he must get permission to do so. Shove a microphone in front of him on this contentious issue before he has referred the matter to M.E.is only going to get you an ' official' response. I can't see anything in the above which says "you won't get anything back". I hope for public relations sake that those concerned recognise the depth of feeling and react accordingly

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CavendishBlue added 23:02 - Feb 11 Very poor PR from PR. When several hundred of us went up to maine road 11 years ago and it was rained off after 22mins, there was never any question of us paying for the re-arranged fixture. The club have always been fair about this sort of thing and it frankly stinks that any far minded person would dream of charging somebody to get in again to see the same match!!!! By the time the fixture is complete, the club would have made more sales in the kiosks at the ground than today alone. I for one will NOT be renewing my ST on the basis of the clubs ungentlemanly conduct and stick in the mud attitude and I haven't had to pay again to watch the re-arranged match!!!! Well done Town my season ticket is returned to you after 15 years. Take

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RonFearonsHair added 23:26 - Feb 11 Rubbish. I can understand charging home fans maybe £10 for the rearranged game to cover running costs. But not to offer Middlesbrough supporters a refund or free tickets is a disgrace.
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carsey added 23:35 - Feb 11 Once again Clegg proves he has no idea how to win fans back. I know he's not the owner but if Evans was there he should have made the decision and told Clegg. If Evans wasn't there any idiot must have known it would be one of the first questions asked so Clegg picks up a phone and asks Evans "What shall I tell them?" League rules have nothing whatever to do with this everybody who got a ticket for today should get free entry to the re-match or a refund - end of story. Clegg Out

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Martus added 00:37 - Feb 12 Clegg's hands are tied. There's nothing he can do, the man has been more than generous and is at least letting us whats going on. Just get off his back, jeez
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simon420 added 00:58 - Feb 12 what are his hands tied by? We on his back as the muppet clearly only interested in the money and fobbing us off with some rubbish about it being the fooball leagues rules, when in fact its club who decided the 50%, and is nothing to do with the league as their regulations clearly tell us.
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Michael11 added 01:56 - Feb 12 Marcus Evans is a multi multi millionaire, if he had any respect or gratitude for the fans he'd give a full refund and the 75% off the rematch! I actually think hes hiding behind clegg a hell of alot to avoid being slated himself! Time to put the fans first and your wallet second!
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itfchorry added 02:06 - Feb 12 Martus Out !
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 07:30 - Feb 12 How ironic that this should happen at a game where the club was supposed to be enticing the fans back. Now is not the time to hide behind regulations. Now is the time to show empathy and common sense and see that everyone (including the Boro fans) who turned up yesterday are FULLY re-imbursed in some way. The fans are the future of our club, many are already disillusioned, and it is short-sighted in the extreme to antagonise them further. I thought customer base and customer satisfaction are supposed to be paramount in a "business".

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