Aldershot Town Chief Executive Peter Duffy has apologised to supporters for the confusion, which surrounded yesterday’s abandoned League Two home fixture against promotion hopefuls Southend United.
Speaking to the clubs official website on Saturday evening he said: “At the time when the game was called off there were a few minutes when it wasn’t clear if the match had been abandoned. We apologise for some confusion that arose when the information was communicated in an endeavour to keep fans informed while clarifying with the referee if he was abandoning the match immediately or providing more time at the interval for the problem to be worked on.
“However on the correct advice of the safety people it was determined that the match would immediately be abandoned before resuming play in the second half. There was no other decision that could be undertaken.
“We apologise to supporters who may have been inconvenienced by the abandonment as we were all looking forwards to this festive fixture.”
While it would appear that the decision to abandon the fixture was the correct one, there is concern amongst Southend United supporters that the match should have even kicked off – with Mr Duffy beginning his apology saying: “It was evident prior to kick off that a problem was being experienced when the pylons were powered on.
“During the course of the first half we were unable to manage both pairs of pylons in operation at the same time due to an electrical issue”.
The fixture was abandoned at half-time following issues with the floodlights. A new date for the match will be announced in the near future.