Heavy snow hits UK football fixtures

Freezing conditions in Britain have wreaked havoc on the weekend’s football fixtures, with two English Premier League matches postponed.

Saturday’s clashes between Wigan Athletic and Aston Villa at the DW Stadium and Liverpool’s match with Fulham at Anfield are off, as well as four Scottish Premier League matches.

Aberdeen against Motherwell, St Mirren’s game with Rangers, and St Johnstone’s meeting with Dundee United were postponed earlier this week, and Hamilton’s home game with Celtic was called off on Saturday when New Douglas Park’s undersoil heating failed.

Two Championship fixtures are also off, with Cardiff’s clash with Burnley postponed along with Portsmouth’s meeting with Scunthorpe.

Despite DW Stadium being equipped with undersoil heating, the Wigan-Villa encounter was postponed on the advice of the Greater Manchester Police after 10 inches of snow fell overnight.

“Public transport isn’t running, there are motorway closures and the general condition of the surrounding routes is treacherous,” a Wigan club statement read.

“The DW Stadium playing surface, ironically, is fine, with the undersoil heating doing its job.”

“The club wants to apologise for the inconvenience this causes. News of the postponement has been circulated as early as possible to all official news channels and news contacts.”

Similarly, Liverpool’s meeting with Fulham had to be called off in the interests of fan safety.

“Club officials met with the police this morning to assess the prevailing weather conditions,” a statement on Liverpool’s website read.

“The safety of all fans attending the game is paramount and although the Anfield pitch is playable, the conditions around the stadium and further afield for people travelling to the match are such that the decision was taken, following police advice on safety grounds, to postpone the game.”