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Clegg: Town Guided By League Regulations
Clegg: Town Guided By League Regulations
Saturday, 11th Feb 2012 20:43

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



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Mutiny added 17:51 - Feb 12
Calamity Clegg.................again and again.
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shaunminx added 18:20 - Feb 12
Ok all it's over 24 hours after the event and no new announcement saying fans (home and away) that had tickets for yesterday's farce are guaranteed a FREE ticket for the rearranged fixture. That's fine by me and hopefully many others coz hopefully a lot of you will now grow some balls and say f*ck you Clegg and evens and itfc. I myself will not put another penny towards either of those two tossers pension until they come back with some value for money back towards US the lifeblood of this club or evens sees the light and get shot of the tw@t.
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s6blue added 18:23 - Feb 12
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skardforlife added 18:32 - Feb 12
well said s6blue
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Pedlarjak added 19:14 - Feb 12
Mr. Clegg, would you like to run my whelk stall?
No - on second thoughts, perhaps not.
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brockleyblueboy added 19:22 - Feb 12
Right first the game shouldn't have gone ahead that is fair to say but having a go a cleft is tepid and this witch hunt with him is starting to get very tiresome.

If we give away free tickets how's that oing to help pay for the up keep of the ground etc we were a club in administration a few years a go and look at Portsmouth, we have to watch the pennies and yes it is very frustrating, but let's be sensible here.

It's annoying but 37 minutes were played so a 50% ticket prove for the next match is alright
STOP MOANING
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ChestnutSe added 19:29 - Feb 12
It's got to be free admission to the re arranged game for all ticket holders. That's fair and commercial so no other decision can be justified. I'm a season ticket holder so assume I'm getting in to the rearranged game for no further payment. Other ticket purchasers deserve the same treatment
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shaunminx added 20:15 - Feb 12
Brockleyblueboy

Did I read your message correctly or am I really mistaken for thinking you are a tw@t? I'll assume you never or neve have been let down by faulty goods. I guess if you were to buy a faulty kettle you would happily pay half as much again for an ok one. Think before you speak please.

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budgieplucker added 08:06 - Feb 14
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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