RUFC - Douglas 'couldn't do more to keep games on'

Rotherham United's Chief Operating Officer, Paul Douglas says that there was nothing else the club could have done to get the recent postponed games on.

Speaking to Dom Howson of The Star, Mr Douglas said, 'There is no reason why we should be anything but eager to get the games on. The last thing we want is for our players to be training all week and not playing on match-days. I don't think there is anything else we could have done. We've been unlucky but we aren't the only club to have had two games called off.'

Mr Douglas said that the grounds staff had monitored the Met Office forecast and had been prepared for the snow adding that the pitch at Don Valley had been coverless since Christmas Eve.

'The covers don't warm the earth up, they just protect it and they are only worth using if the ground underneath is not already frozen and we have not had warm enough weather to warm it up.

'You can't keep the covers on forever as they only block out the sun and fresh air which is important for the grass.

'There are more drastic and expensive measures to protect the pitch, but for a football club of our size and esources, it is not feasible to employ those measures.'

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