Frozen pitches replace waterlogged ones – but which Sussex football teams face biggest fixture pile-ups

It’s been a stop-start month or so for many clubs, with first rain bringing instances of waterlogging and now sub-zero temperatures leaving surfaces icy and frosty – and ‘match off’ signs and alerts everywhere.

By the end of next weekend (Jan 28-29) six months of the non-league season will have gone and only three months will remain – with many leagues supposed to be staging their final fixtures at the end of April, though some go into May.

So how far behind are teams with their fixtures, even if the weather improves from now and no more postponements are needed, and which ones face the biggest fixture pile-ups at the sharp end of the campaign?

Brighton are fine in the Premier League – the big boys rarely have to worry about waterlogged or frozen pitch – but even in League Two, Crawley Town are looking at having to play a number of midweek games.

There are 15 weekends of the regular League Two season left but the Reds, whose latest game, away to Sutton, was called off on Saturday along with many matches in Sussex, have 22 games still to play – meaning almost half the remaining weeks of the season will contain midweek action.

In National South, Eastbourne Borough and Worthing both have 3G pitches so don’t have to worry about losing home games, but both have had away action postponed in recent weeks. But with Borough having only 18 games and Worthing 19, there won’t be too many worries at present, although their regular season is due to end on April 29.

That means they have 14 Saturdays left, so as it stands only four and five midweek games to fit in, respectively. Not so relaxed about things in National South are Taunton Town, who have played just 19 of their 46 games so far, with 27 left to squeeze in. Their struggles are typified by the fact Eastbourne Borough’s visit to Somerset has already been postponed three times.

Things are not quite so manageable for Isthmian League teams.

At step three and four the season is scheduled to end on April 22 – meaning there are only 13 Saturdays left.

Isthmian premier teams have 42 matches to get through – and of those, Horsham have 18 left, Lewes and Hastings 19 and Bognor 20. That means seven of those final 13 weeks will see the Rocks in action, for example.

By the way, in another step three league, the Southern League premier south, spare a thought for Plymouth Parkway – who have managed just 18 matches so far with 24 to go.

What of the Isthmian south east division? They are also due to finish on April 22 but have only 38 league games to complete.

But, with 13 weekends left, Three Bridges still have 21 games to play – having been hit particularly hard by call-offs in recent weeks. Eight midweek outings, then, are on the cards for Bridges – even if there are no more postponements.

Chichester City and East Grinstead are two games better off having played 19, half their total, while Whitehawk and Burgess have already played 20 (with 18 left), Littlehampton 21 (17 left) and Haywards Heath and Lancing are 22 down (16 to go).

In the Southern Combination League, premier division sides have 38 games to play to complete the season – and Little Common are furthesrt behind, having managed only 17 in so far. Title-chasing Broadbridge Heath are only two games better off, having reached the halfway point of their schedule.

In SCFL division one, it’s a 32-match season and all Sussex sides are at least halfway through that number, most well past the halfway mark, while in division two, it’s a 26-match league programme, and everyone is into the second half of their allocation apart from Rottingdean, who have played 13.

In addition to league games, some teams are still in cup competitions – not least the Sussex Senior Cup. Eastbourne United and Midhurst have yet to play their second round tie, postponed numerous times already, while third round games involving Hastings United, Bexhill United, Eastbourne Town, Littlehampton Town, Billingshurst, Burgess Hill Town, Brighton & Hove Albion U23s, Bognor and Eastbourne Borough have yet to be played.

The top divisions of the West Sussex, Mid Sussex and East Sussex leagues have also been hit by the weather in the past couple of months.

West Sussex premier sides only need to get through 18 league games but Bognor-based The Unicorn have only played SIX so far. The Mid Sussex premier has a 24-match season and all sides are more than halfway through their fixtures, while in the ESFL premier it’s a 20-match season but three teams – Rye Town, Westfield Res and Bexhill Amateur Athletic Club - have played only six league games so far.

In summary, we wish fixture secretaries well as they grapple with the games they have to fit into the time remaining – while also sparing a thought for the many players and officials, for whom, of course, football is not their full-time occupation but who are facing hours of midweek commitments in the next three months.

And as for the weather forecast, it’s fingers crossed – and the BBC weather app tells us that the coming week in Sussex, west and east, should be largely dry with temperatures rising. Here’s hoping!

Are your team struggling badly with postponements? Email [email protected] with your story.