DUNDEE club secretary Eric Drysdale has pinned the blame on the Dens Park’s five postponements this season on climate change.
There’s barely disguised fury around Scottish football after the Dens men‘s fifth call off of the campaign plunged the end of the Premiership season into chaos.
Eric Drysdale has revealed that rainfall in the area is massively up
Dens Park was ultimately deemed unplayable
A third attempt at getting the match played will now take place on Wednesday April 17.
But Hibs aren’t happy on ‘sporting integrity’ grounds as that’s after they and the rest of their top six rivals will have finished their pre-split fixtures.
And Rangers aren’t happy either as it means they will have to go through the whole rigmarole again a week later, just days before they’re in Scottish Cup semi-final action.
The SPFL have said that the Dens Park side are subject to an ongoing investigation but there’s been radio silence on that in the last few weeks.
It’s all a mess – and while Dundee club secretary Eric Drysdale admits ‘urgent’ work on the pitch is needed, he also said the club had done all they could.
He blamed it on a 35% increase in rainfall in the area as compared to the 10-year average – even though many pitches, including nearby Tannadice Park, are playable.
He told SkySports: “I can understand people are annoyed at this and are looking at it as Dundee‘s fault.
“What I would say is that from the research we have done in the last few days this year’s rainfall is 35 per cent higher than the 10 year average – that shows the effects of climate change on it and it shows the work we have to do urgently on the Dens Park pitch.”
Meanwhile match referee Don Robertson admitted there was no chance of the match being played.
The surface passed an 11am inspection but further heavy rainfall meant it failed a 3.30pm inspection and was never likely to proceed.
He said: “A second inspection was carried out with the agreement of the clubs and the league.
“I had done an initial inspection at 11am and the pitch as playable at that point.
“But obviously everyone is aware of the issues that Dundee have had with their pitch.
“It’s not in great condition, but it was playable.
“Everyone was aware of the forecast for heavy rain in the area in the afternoon and that’s why we agreed on a pitch inspection at 3.30pm, to see how the pitch looked once that rain came.
“Once I arrived I have conducted the inspection and the pitch had deteriorated quite a lot in that time.
“There was an area of concern in front of the bottom penalty area, which was wet this morning but playable.
“They put the covers on but in the four hours since that first inspection there has been heavy rain and that area of the pitch has become sodden, waterlogged and therefore unsafe for the players.
“And unfortunately the match has been postponed.
“No-one would say the pitch was in great condition in the morning but it was playable and safe for the players to play.
“The ball was bouncing and travelling through those areas.
“But when I did the second inspection that wasn’t the case.
“It is quite a significant area of the pitch – it’s not just a small corner – and once I determined that it was unsafe for the players – which is my concern here – then the match was postponed.”
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