{"id":352151,"date":"2026-01-04T19:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T19:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/352151\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T19:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T19:24:08","slug":"portsmouth-v-ipswich-town-town-fans-verdict-on-call-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/352151\/","title":{"rendered":"Portsmouth v Ipswich Town: Town fans&#8217; verdict on call-off"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  The match was officially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eadt.co.uk\/sport\/25738191.portsmouth-v-ipswich-town-match-postponed-frozen-pitch\/?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">called off at 11am after three pitch inspections<\/a>, with ref Leigh Doughty deciding that part of the playing surface were unplayable.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  It&#8217;s the first time that a game has been axed to due a frozen pitch at Fratton Park in almost 14 years, with hundreds of Town fans well on their way to the South Coast when the decision was revealed.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Town fans have been reacting on X &#8211; here&#8217;s a flavour of what they&#8217;re saying&#8230;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  And we want to hear what you think too &#8211; so leave your comment and get involved in the debate!\n<\/p>\n<p>\n    Did nobody at Ipswich know there was a possibility of it being off until 10.55? Unfair fans weren&#8217;t warned earlier, so we could have at least delayed journeys\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    \u2014 Katie Ling (@KatieLing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KatieLing\/status\/2007779352659063124?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 4, 2026<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    No other 3pm game called off. Pitch had covers on and it was only a few degrees below freezing. Called of at 11 and despite temperatures improving. Why not inspect at 12 and 1 then make a call? Pompey also have load of players out and not had game called of in 10+years I belive.\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    \u2014 Black Country Tractor Boy 5RB \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\udf49 (@YamYamKally) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/YamYamKally\/status\/2007798802246492219?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 4, 2026<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Pompey?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#Pompey<\/a> should now be fined more than the cost it would&#8217;ve taken to hire sufficient equipment to get the game on. If it&#8217;s safe for fans to get there (which it clearly has been) they should&#8217;ve been doing all they can to get the game on. Tinpottery. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/itfc?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#itfc<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    \u2014 Lewis Mitchell (@lewismitchell87) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lewismitchell87\/status\/2007780947324706956?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 4, 2026<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    Being rational I\u2019d say it highlights the need for more money to be spent to improve the infrastructure of pitches across the game<\/p>\n<p>Far more fun to talk about it being a big Pompey conspiracy theory though\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    \u2014 Matthew Worrall (@Matty_Worrall) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Matty_Worrall\/status\/2007783284517003645?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 4, 2026<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    All efforts should be made to play ultimately, even if kick off is pushed back a few hours and pressure put on the (H) club. It&#8217;s not historically cold temperatures is it or force majeure. It&#8217;s fairly standard British winter weather.\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    \u2014 Alex Browne (@AlexBrownee) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlexBrownee\/status\/2007781070130000113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 4, 2026<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    You\u2019ve got to take the positives out of this situation. We\u2019ve had a lot of matches in the last few weeks. If we play a 2nd string in the FA cup this can be a mini winter break, chance to continue improving things on the training ground and a strong start to the next games <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/itfc?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#itfc<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    \u2014 GeorgeFromBSE (@giorgiosuffolk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/giorgiosuffolk\/status\/2007783982705094759?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 4, 2026<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    Pompey prob made no effort to keep it on. No thought for the travelling fans\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    \u2014 Aiden byfield (@byfield_aiden) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/byfield_aiden\/status\/2007777790704374171?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 4, 2026<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    Our players have played a lot of games recently so may be a blessing disguise.\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    \u2014 Phil Kerridge (@KerridgePhil) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KerridgePhil\/status\/2007787615828021732?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 4, 2026<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    Has to be a positive for Town.<br \/>Yes, we&#8217;re on a good run, but this gives the players a extra break, especially if some fringe \/ U21s are given an opportunity in the Cup<\/p>\n<p>Pain for the fans, but good for our seasoning reckon <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ITFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#ITFC<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    \u2014 Alastair Taylor \ud83e\udde2 (@AlTaylorNZ) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlTaylorNZ\/status\/2007802018682016183?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 4, 2026<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    Thoughts are a championship game should not be off in this weather. But they have 12 out injured. Make of it what you will!\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    \u2014 Richard Hibbert (@RichHibbert) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RichHibbert\/status\/2007784722253091229?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 4, 2026<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    Feel sorry for those travelling but playing them on a more \u201cplayable\u201d pitch works in our favour, even if they do have players back, as we are that much better than them, in ALL departments \ud83e\udd2a\ud83d\ude1c\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n    \u2014 Busta (@markdbliss) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/markdbliss\/status\/2007803306337517585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 4, 2026<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The match was officially called off at 11am after three pitch inspections, with ref Leigh Doughty deciding that&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-352151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}