Andy Cullen provides ‘major’ update on Portsmouth v Millwall postponement
Andy Cullen has discussed in further depth the journey behind Portsmouth suffering a second straight match postponed.
The Pompey CEO, speaking to the club’s official platforms [27 November], detailed the circumstances which put paid to Fratton Park’s Championship match against Millwall due to severe electrical failure around the stadium.
It comes after the Blues saw their game against Blackburn Rovers last Saturday [23 November] postponed just a matter of hours before kick-off due to a waterlogged pitch at Ewood Park.
“We lost all power around 10 minutes before kick-off. We worked incredibly hard with the safety team to find the cause of the problem, and eventually we traced it back to the sub-station which serves Fratton Park,” said Cullen.
“We had another consideration around 8:30pm where if we didn’t kick off by around 8:45pm, we wouldn’t finish the game in time for trains to be available to London and other areas of the country.
“At the moment, we can only speculate what caused the major blowout in the sub-station. We will have the major debrief like we would do after every major incident.”
Portsmouth v Millwall postponed
By the time Portsmouth face Swansea City this Saturday [30 November], the club will have been out of competitive action for a full three weeks.
There came a point around an hour after the intended kick-off time of 7:45pm on Wednesday night that work to maintain power at Fratton Park could not be continued, as in particular the 2,000-plus away supporters would have been unable to make their journeys home.
To have two matches postponed in four days over entirely different circumstances is near-unprecedented in recent times – particularly for Pompey in a league like the Championship.
While the lack of certainty in communication at the time struggles to put the Blues in the best light to supporters, the club insist circumstances were beyond their control – including Cullen who mentioned the sub-station was inaccessible to those from the club, with the Southern Electric board called in.
Pompey will now have a fixture backlog emanating from the past week as the season continues.
In other Portsmouth news, David Norris makes an “extraordinary” Colby Bishop claim.
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