| Last weekend saw the first of the winter named storms. This impacted a few of our YEL games however nearly 90% went ahead as planned on Sat. We’ve contacted the affected teams separately.
To be clear going forward, football is a winter sport and we’re highly likely to encounter wind, rain, snow etc. It’s inevitable. However, we want to ensure that it is also safe for children to play football so as part of any decision-making process, we will always consult the Met Office forecasts to see if specific weather warnings have been issued – Yellow, Amber or Red. Each of these warnings will give an indication of the likelihood of any adverse weather affecting certain areas and what the impact/level of risk is likely to be. If we are aware of impending weather issues, we’ll check to see if any weather warnings have been issued and, if they have, the information contained within. If we feel there is a need to issue advice regarding games being played or not, having consulted the Met Office, we will use our social media channels to advise clubs/ teams accordingly, otherwise we would expect games to go ahead as normal. Again, going forward, games postponed without specific advice from the league, will follow the normal cancellation process.
We’d like to underline that only the YEL, appointed referees or external venue providers can make the decision for a game not to go ahead for any non-playing surface call. There are always going to be exceptional circumstances. In this instance, clubs/teams should contact the YEL for guidance either by email prior to the day of the game or YEL Game Day hotline on the day of the game – 07510 305354.
Obviously if a playing surface is not playable due to being waterlogged or frozen, teams would follow the normal process of emailing the office to advise that the game was off unless instructed by the league to do otherwise. |
