Before the snowfall in Cheltenham, the town was already beset by freezing temperatures. The icy conditions led to postponements throughout the football pyramid.
The lowest level of local football, the Cheltenham Football League, has suffered the brunt of the cancellations, with the council pitches being deemed unsafe in pitch inspections.
One of the few games that went ahead was Montpellier FC’s League Cup match against Whaddon Reserves, in which the tie narrowly avoided being called off.
Montpellier chairman Liam Bond is concerned about the fixtures building up as further postponements loom.
“We all know that the disruptive weather has an unavoidable effect on grassroots football, but it’s annoying as it interrupts the fixture list and adds to the pileup at the end of the season.”
With the game going ahead the 30-year-old had thoughts on conditions with Whaddon player Wez Sharp getting taken off injured in the first half.
“It did definitely improve during the match, but it was touch-and-go in the first half. Obviously, there was Sharp’s injury, it is difficult to say how much the pitch played a part in that. It certainly didn’t help.”
Sports Physiotherapist Alistair Jones reflects on the dangers of the recent conditions for amateur football.
“From a medical perspective, on frozen pitches there is a far higher risk of ankle sprains with no give in the pitch.”
Ankle Sprains are not the injury at high risk in the current conditions.
“With the ground being so hard, you run the risk of any sort of joint problems including knees, hips and even your back. Landing awkwardly puts any joint at risk.”
There’s more than just joint injuries that can be caused on freezing playing surfaces.
“Sliding on icy pitches risks burns on exposed skin. That’s one of the reasons you call off games from a physio point of view.”
Since Saturday’s games, snow has created yet another barrier to grassroots football continuing next weekend.
Cheltenham Town haven’t managed much better with the conditions. Their game away to local rivals Forest Green Rovers narrowly avoided postponement after two pitch inspections.
The Robins are appealing for help clearing the facilities of snow for the side’s Tuesday Night Papa John’s Trophy tie against Chelsea U21’s.
Whether amateur sides in Cheltenham will manage to play their final fixture of the calendar year is up in the air.
With the temperature forecast to stay around 1°C over Friday night, the ground will be the cause of concern for a lot of local sides as they hope to get back on the pitch.
