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

riley26 added 09:01 - Feb 12 It may have been different circumstances, but didn't MK DONS recently have a match postponed in which they fully refunded the Carlisle fans, and offered them a free ticket for a friend, and paid for two coaches for the return fixture??? Just show some f***ing compassion for once Clegg you arrogant a*se...obviously don't give a toss about the fans.
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Normandyblue added 09:13 - Feb 12 Jas - It wasn't your missus that PJ sh*gged perchance?
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TractorMan added 09:20 - Feb 12 Clegg has said in two different interviews the 50% is a minimum based on FL rules and a decision on how to deal with the rearranged match would be made next week. Marcus Evans isn't stupid and will be offering more than the minimum. That's fair enough and as a number of the more sensible posters have pointed out, let the club make a proper decision and not hang them when they haven't officially announced a decision.

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itfc1981 added 09:22 - Feb 12 scrimping Mr Clegg, guided yes, but with Marcus Evans about you know what you should do.
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skardforlife added 09:45 - Feb 12 dugoutdave , your picture is that you looking in a mirror ?
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dugoutdave added 10:16 - Feb 12 Skardforlife: no - its actually me looking out of my window to see where all the hot air on this forum is coming from !! I did have my picture on here but phil took it off cos it scared the younger readers!
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clarkey85 added 10:21 - Feb 12 The rules r u get 50% of your original ticket price back not 50% off the re match is that right? Im not a Clegg fan far from it but hes the middle man Evans pays him to take the crap! Anyway the fans who have tickets should be admitted free thats the bottom.line i cant see any othe way?
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AlpineBlue added 10:26 - Feb 12 Boycott the rematch. No programme revenues, no catering revenues, no merchandise revenues, and some very very p***ed off match-day sponsors. Until people stop whinging and vote with their feet and their wallets, nothing will ever change. Cleggy wants to run ITFC as a business, well poor product at a high price = less customers and less revenue. BOYCOTT!
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hogster1970 added 10:35 - Feb 12 this guy as a first classed baffooooooooon of the highest order, if a saeson ticket holder like me, mum and my daughter and get a free entry to the re aaranged match then surley any one who has bought a ticket for the match should also get free entry . its not rocket science is it, to me all though i am a ticket holder feel so sorry for borough fans, and also the guys or gals who did get on the day tickets may get shafted this aint good for the club, at the end of the day the club wont loose any thing out of it if the just say if you have a ticket stub turn up and you will get in for free, and keep the full match discount for any additional people who want to go, and give a 50% refund to any home or away supporter who cant make the re arranged match date, thats what i would do any how, so Clegg and Evans get your head out of your bank account and pull your finger out of your backsides and just have a long hard think, because its sh@t or bust time if you c@ck this up, and you will loose even more supporters and even more revenue for the future, now is time to speculate to accumalte as with the fair play stuff all coming up, so just have a long hard think you two before you screw this much loved club right up

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millerman added 11:06 - Feb 12 Clegg/Evans may come up with a more compassionate offer next week but the damage has been done. Clegg is paid to handle these situations with the media and so far he has handled it appalingly. First reactions/responses tell you a lot.
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Dissboyitfc added 11:16 - Feb 12 Dugout Dave.... Clegg is evans pr man, i am no pr expert, but all clegg had to say if he is not in a position to make decisions was, "announcement will be made, when there is something to say, until then i wont be drawn on what the prices are going to be for the rearranged fixture". He dodges questions on many occasions, so could have on this one... But to me its a no brainer, FREE admission for those with ticket stubbs, SIMPLE... CLEGG OUT, this bloke is blessed with lots of ability, trouble is its" LIABILITY" ..he has to go, i for one will be writing to the club to tell them i will not be putting money into portman road until this club recognises support is a 2 way thing, we have been paying good money to watch a very poor and expensive product, this all needs addressing, clegg is not the man to win us fans over, he is alienating the fan base,BIG TIME>...i urge those who feel the same to write to the club... COYB

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dugoutdave added 11:21 - Feb 12 I certainly agree something should be done BUT I also notice how many posters refer to the milions M.E. has got and how he can afford it, how he should pay people back etc. and yet those very same people have posted how greedy target signings get when they learn that Ipswich are after them because they know Evans has a fortune.
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budgieplucker added 11:26 - Feb 12 Football is a multi million pound business. Simon Clegg is Chief Executive and the issue here is that he was very ill prepared for this situation yesterday which in my mind smacks of incompetence. Yes we all know he is a puppet of ME and is probably not authorised to give a ruling without reference to ME as there will be additional cost to the club. He suggested just after the match wasn't the right time to be making snap decisions. He is dead right it shouldn't be a snap decision, the club should already be clear on what the policy is so it can exactly inform supporters what they can expect rather than refer them to links on websites that lead to other links that still don't make the situation clear. If this had been a FA cup tie the rules as we have seen posted here are absolutely clear and appear very fair. Nice to be able complement the FA for once, however, the Football League seem to duck the issue that's why we have guidelines. Clegg is talking absolute crap and as chief executive was totally unprepared, "we will have a look at what we can do" means exactly one thing, how far can we go to fleece the public further. This is nothing more than greed, yes it costs money to stage a match. The balloon is proving to be ineffective if it doesn't heat every inch of grass. These really are lessons that we are all learning the hard way, ITFC supports a rural and wide catchment area for its fan base and many travel long distances to get to Portman Road and these lessons are being learned at the expense of the fans. For a sport that is considered professional these aspects to border on the amateurist. Simply just not good enough. The Chief Executive has to take full responsibility.

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Stato added 11:41 - Feb 12 Serious own goal on Cleggs part. Those fans without season tickets are going to be reluctant to purchase tickets whenever the cold weather is around due to shabby refund policy. Look at the success of Marks & Spencer in the 90's which was in part built around a no quibble refund policy. Give free entrance to rescheduled fixture to all ticket holders from yesterday and remember fans will still be out of pocket for travel costs.

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algarvefan added 11:43 - Feb 12 Why doesn't Clegg shut up and say the club will make a statement in due course instead of shootung from the hip and making himself look a 'dick'. My understanding is the FA say the club should have a policy...and we don't have one .....who's responsibility is that...the Chief Executive. So ITFC & Mr Clegg let's have a policy for all to see, so we all know where we stand. I travelled all the way to Manchester from Devon in 2001 for the Carling Cup Quarter final against Man City which was abandoned due to the heavy rain. It should never have gone ahead but at least Man City said tickets were valid for the re-arranged game (Free), I couldn't get there because of work but thought that offer was fair. So come on Ipswich at least offer free tickets for those who purchased and say 50% off for others to get the crowd in!!!

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onlygoingoneway added 11:55 - Feb 12 I see that the new muppet's film has just been released, seems ITFC are rivialling it with a season long show, with Mr Clegg starring as Miss (Greedy) Piggy!! Doubt he could rearrange these words Brewery up in piss a. ITFC going to ruin being run by non Football and Ipswich supporters.
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Dissboyitfc added 12:18 - Feb 12 What next? and perhaps i shouldnt even suggest this, but are the club going to charge season ticket holders 50% for the rearranged fixture? after all they got 37 mins worth yesterday too. AS ridiculous as this sounds, i would not put it past clegg to try....we need football people in charge...there is very little pleasure in supporting the town these days, one pleasure i used to get was seeing the home grown youngsters coming through, this will change if we opt for the level 2 status. coyb...ps whats the clubs email ad?

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Cheshire_Blue added 12:48 - Feb 12 Any chance of a free bus from Cheshire for the rearranged game ? Clueless Clegg!
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buryblue77 added 12:52 - Feb 12 If I buy a product and it breaks down after 37 minutes I would expect either a full refund or a free of charge replacement or repair. I wouldn't expect to pay any extra and usually unless you are unlucky to have purchased from a cowboy trader and rather vulnerable you wouldn't pay again. That's what this equates to and for some people going to a game can be difficult, either through work/family commitments or financial constraints, and although extreme weather cannot be helped I feel the club is being gready on this one. What the club should do(as it's obvious that those who were at the game won't get into a re-arranged game for free) is to say that ALL extra funds raised from ticket sales from this game will go into the transfer pot for the summer window, it could well be around the £100k mark and that could get us 2 more Andy Drury's!

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itfchorry added 13:01 - Feb 12 Taxi for Clegg
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tractorboykent added 13:07 - Feb 12 As many people have pointed out, he said 'guided' not 'governed.' He's asking us to believe that the Board and Chief Exec cannot make decisons that directly affect their business, customers (and margin.) That's hard to swallow - most of us will see the decison to force people to pay again as the club's. Since Evans bought the club we have obviously had to accept that it's now a rich man's train set but we''ve not before seen anything quite so openly contemptuous of the fans. The only question is how many of us will roll over and how many will vote with our feet?

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Dissboyitfc added 14:29 - Feb 12 i am going to vote with an email and tell them , i wont give them anymore of my hard earnt money...coyb...
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yorksblue added 14:57 - Feb 12 £98K for recent fees re Council debt would have been better spent on undersoil heating. It's all about priorities, or in our case, the lack of them.
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AlanMahon2011 added 17:38 - Feb 12 Clegg and his bunch of thieving crooks strike again.
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RegencyBlue added 17:39 - Feb 12 Another Public Relations disaster from Clegg. Get rid of this muppet and give Kermit a go. He couldnt do any worse!!!
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