ian1964 10,720 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 by Thomas Jordan FORFAR will have to invest in additional floodlights if they want to cash in on their rearranged Homecoming Scottish Cup clash with Rangers on February 18. The Third Division minnows are still desperate to land an �£82,500 windfall from Sky TV for their fifth round showdown with Walter Smith's men that was postponed yesterday. Rangers are furious with the SFA for leaving it as late as the morning of the game to carry out a final pitch inspection - despite making concerns known last Thursday that forecasts of minus seven would put the match in jeopardy. Smith and his players travelled to Dundee on Saturday to prepare, and many supporters were already well on their way when the match was finally postponed at around 9am. advertisement Forfar now have just over a week to make arrangements to improve their floodlights to enhance the quality of pictures should Sky - who have agreed to show the St Mirren v Motherwell replay live the night before - agree to screen the fixture. Forfar secretary David MacGregor said: "We're hoping Sky will stick with us. There will be an issue with floodlights. I think we'd need to get extra ones in to enhance the quality of the pictures. But that's something we'll talk to them about if they are still showing the game." Rangers chief executive Martin Bain accused the SFA of incompetence following the last-minute postponement. He blasted: "We wrote to the SFA on Thursday afternoon highlighting the long-range weather forecast and we sent them a copy of it, which indicated temperatures on Saturday would drop to minus seven. "All the SFA said was the earliest a pitch inspection could take place was 24 hours before kick-off and they'd take cognisance of our comments. Clearly they have not." Station Park did pass an inspection by a local referee on Saturday morning and, while the club had three separate plastic covers on the pitch overnight, arctic temperatures meant there was never any realistic chance of the game going ahead. The SFA, however, have hit-back. A spokesman said: "We have every sympathy for fans who had begun their journey when the game was called off. "We were working on information that the temperatures were going to be consistently low over the weekend - that's why we called for a pitch inspection yesterday morning and why we kept the referee up there overnight. "The pitch was perfectly playable yesterday. It wasn't even touch and go. But there was a dramatic drop in temperature on Saturday night that wasn't forecast. "The Forfar groundsman said it was minus nine at one point. I don't know what more we could have done." Refree Eddie Smith made the decision to call the game off and said: "A lot of areas on the park were solid and covered in ice and for the safety of everyone involved I had no hesitation in calling it off." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/display.var.2488025.0.0.php 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Ally 0 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 The SFA's arguement looks quite flawed. Saying it was ok the day before and the temperature dropped below zero over night doesn't wash when Bain had already told them that that would be the case. Quite how they think they have answered Bain's point I am not sure? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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