'Shocking decision' - Crawley Town and their fans have wasted trip to Peterborough... match OFF after earlier inspection said match ON

Frustrated Peterborough United said they had expressed doubts over whether the pitch would be playable earlier in the day.

The match referee postponed the Bristol Street Motors Trophy fixture with Crawley Town due to a frozen pitch. It was 6.26pm by the time the postponement was announced on social media – after Crawley and their fans had made the tricky journey north.

Peterborough United issued a statement that said: “The football club requested a pitch inspection at 12.30pm due to our concerns over the playing surface and the EFL arranged for an official to come down to the Weston Homes Stadium to inspect the pitch.

“That official communicated his findings with the EFL who requested another pitch inspection at 2.30pm. The same official inspected the pitch at 2.30pm and deemed the pitch playable. The match referee, on arrival at the Weston Homes Stadium, then expressed his concerns and made the decision to call the game off.

“The football club are bitterly disappointed that their concerns earlier in the day on the playing surface, the freezing temperatures and the predicted temperatures were not taken into consideration, which has led to this late postponement.

“We sympathise with supporters of both Posh and Crawley for this decision.”

Crawley Town said on X (formerly Twitter): “We are sorry to those who travelled this evening, and the details of a rearranged fixture will be released in due course.”

GH Away Travel, who run transport to Reds away games, tweeted: “Gutted - could have been called off before we travelled- we were 30 mins away - we still have had to pay for the coach - we get no reimbursement - shocking decision.”