Football and racing affected as sporting fixtures frozen out

Accrington, Carlisle and Crewe announced postponements on Friday morning, along with National Hunt meetings at Bangor and Carlisle.

Saturday’s match at Accrington has been called off due to a frozen pitch (Tim Goode/PA) (PA Archive)

Football league fixtures and race meetings have been called off as the cold weather snap takes a bite out of the sporting calendar.

On Friday morning, it was announced that Saturday’s Sky Bet League One fixture between Accrington and Portsmouth had been called off due to a frozen pitch, with Morecambe v Charlton following suit later in the day. There was no prospect of an improvement before the respective kick-offs given the forecast.

In League Two, the Cumbrian derby between Carlisle and Barrow was called off along with fixtures between Crewe and Leyton Orient, Rochdale and Stockport, and Salford and Walsall.

Carlisle had hoped the game would go ahead after placing frost covers on the Brunton Park playing surface all week.

Officials at Bangor abandoned the National Hunt card with part of the track frozen and unraceable, while Sunday’s meeting at Carlisle has already been cancelled.

There were morning inspections at Cheltenham and Doncaster ahead of Friday’s racing, while the team at Hereford will have a precautionary check on Saturday morning before deciding if that meeting should go ahead.

Officials at Navan will inspect at midday on Friday ahead of Saturday’s card, while the high-profile meeting at Punchestown on Sunday – due to feature the Grade One John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase – will need to pass a noon inspection on Saturday.