Seven
Premier League games
fell by the wayside this weekend, with only the matches at
Birmingham and Arsenal, as well as Monday night's fixture between
Blackburn and Manchester City at Eastlands, surviving the cold
snap.
Bolton are the worst affected side, having lost fixtures at
Sunderland, Arsenal and Wigan to the snow over the last three
weeks.
But with the Arctic temperatures set to continue for at least
another week, conditions are likely to be treacherous and doubts
have been raised about the FA Cup third-round replays due to be
played on Tuesday and on Wednesday, as well as the weekend's
Premier League games.
Clubs are monitoring conditions around their grounds and
consulting police and local authorities as they attempt to ensure
supporter safety. In a season curtailed by two weeks to accommodate
the early start of the World Cup, though, the game's governing
bodies are aware more postponements could lead to timing
difficulties once European competition resumes in February.
Only two weekends remain clear between now and the end of the
season, on Jan 23/24 and Feb13/14th, both dates set aside for the
fourth and fifth rounds of the FA Cup.
The rearranged Carling Cup semi-finals, which fell victim to the
snow last week, will be played over the next three weeks, while two
rounds of midweek Premier League games are already scheduled to
take place at the end of January and in the second week of
February. FA Cup fourth-round replays are slotted in to take place
in the first week of February.
For those sides in Europe, there are likely to be no available
midweek dates to play rearranged games until mid-March at the
earliest.
The situation is further complicated by Uefa's decision to play
the first knockout round of the Champions League over four dates,
rather than two in February and March, while Liverpool, Everton and
Fulham, the entrants to the Europa League, could have four games to
play in the same period.
England face Egypt on March 3 at Wembley as coach Fabio
Capello's side prepare for the World Cup, while Premier League
sides reaching the latter stages of the FA Cup will have to
reschedule league games to fit those fixtures in. A handful of
games, postponed earlier in the season, are still to be played.
Clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two, where just
eight fixtures of 36 survived the weather over the weekend, are
likely to be similarly affected.