Premier League and UK Sports fall foul to Postponements and Cancellations

Sports News

A lot of the sport around the UK has been cancelled or postponed due to the adverse weather gripping Great Britain and Ireland. As fun as it is to step outside and build snowmen and throw snowballs at younger siblings, the one downside to the sub-zero temperatures and snow fall that has befallen the UK, is that it causes havoc with the sporting calendar. Already on Wednesday, the Carling Cup Semi Final First Legs between Blackburn v Aston Villa, and the much anticipated Manchester City v Manchester United clashes got wiped out, along with Bolton’s trip to the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League. Generously, Arsenal have said that they will pay the costs incurred by Bolton fans who had travelled south for the match, as the game was not officially called off until five hours before kick off. Some plucky travellers had already made their way to London, and the Gunners have admirably stepped up to the plate to reimburse the hardened Bolton fans.

Premier League Matches Off
The Premier League fixture list is leading the way in cancellations, a lot of the major safety concerns over the fans’ collective safety in making their way to football stadia across the nation. League leaders Chelsea have had their game against Hull called off, along with Burnley v Stoke, Fulham v Portsmouth and Sunderland v Bolton. This will give Manchester United the chance to race to the top of the league, if they can win at Birmingham in their match. The St Andrews pitch is fine, and staff have been working around the clock to keep the surrounding areas clear, but there still remains the chance of it being called off if overnight ice plagues the area too much. This is much the case with other matches.

The big Sunday afternoon showdown between Liverpool and Tottenham has also definitely fallen foul of the terrible weather though, and the game between Wigan v Aston Villa is in some jeopardy because of some failing under-soil heating. There will be a morning inspection at the DW Stadium to see if the game goes ahead or not.

Championship, League One and League Two Matches Off
The Premier League, is of course, not the only league affected. The Championship has been hit just as hard, with seven matches called off already, including leader’s Newcastle’s visit to Reading. Such is the chaos, only three matches remain in the Championship at the moment, and these are Cardiff v Blackpool, Coventry v Barnsley and Derby v Scunthorpe.
There are just two games in League One which have survived so far, and they are games involving the top two teams, Leeds v Wycombe and Norwich v Exeter.
If you are the supporter of a League Two team, then you may as well just stay in bed with a hot chocolate, as all matches in the league have been cancelled already. All FA Trophy games have also been cancelled.

Horse Racing Matches Off
The meetings at Ffos Las, Punchestown, Sedgefield and Wincanton have all been called off for Saturday, so you will probably need to get online and play some virtual racing at your online bookmakers, like SportingBet provide, if you need to fill the void. There will definitely be no snow there! Alternatively you can seek out some horse racing from across the pond, as providers like Stan James offer good coverage on US and Canadian meetings. Sunday’s meetings at Hereford and Leopardstown have also been cancelled, as well as Monday’s cards at Taunton and Ayr. Newcastle’s meeting for Tuesday has already been cancelled too. That all pretty much puts an end to the National Hunt racing for the weekend.
Incidentally, Lingfield (which ran on Friday) and Kempton will hold inspections on Saturday morning, and Catterick will be checked on Monday ahead of Thursday’s race card.

Rugby Union Matches Off
Yep, even those hardened, rugged, tough Rugby players get to miss out on their sporting action this weekend, and can sit at home sipping tea in their gown and slippers. Leaders Saracens will get a break this weekend, as their match with Sale was called off, more due to the safety of spectators than anything to do with the pitch. It will be a quiet weekend in the Guinness Premiership as there is only one surviving fixture there so far, and that is the meeting of Leicester v Wasps (if you’re looking for a good bet on this, then Leicester -7 Handicap with BetFred at 4/5 looks pretty decent). Note that this match has been brought forward to a 3.30pm kick off from its scheduled 5.15 start.

With all this disruption for the weekend ahead, the punter in you need not fret. There is plenty of action still going on around in the British Isles and across the World. Why not take advantage of this, as it a great time to stay indoors and feast your eyes over some indoor sports. It is times like this when it is perfectly acceptable to be an armchair fan.

Snooker On!
The Snooker Masters start on Sunday, with Jimmy White playing Mark King. As a big snooker fan, I want to see him win, but remember to bet with your head and not your heart. King should win it (1/2 at Ladbrokes best price). Tough to call a winner for the tournament from outside Ronnie O’Sullivan (11/4 at SkyBet), but personally I fancy Mark Selby at an each way bet at 10/1 with BetFred).

Darts On!
The BDO Darts Championship is at the semi final stages. Sadly it doesn’t have that precious darting factor of having Sid Waddell’s awesome commentary on the games, as he takes care of the PDC Darts coverage, but all the same, it is a chance to enjoy some top flight darts. Martin Adams (11/8 at Boylesports) is favourite but do not discount top seed Tony O’Shea who is out at a very generous 3/1 also with Boylesports.

Tennis On!
No bad weather down under, or out in the middle East, where all of the new season of Tennis is getting underway on the WTA and ATP Tours. There’s a Rafael Nadal v Nikolay Davydenko final, Andy Murray and Laura Robson taking on Spain in the final of the Hopman Cup, Andy Roddick charging towards the Brisbane Open title, and a dream final in the WTA Brisbane final between Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. Clijsters. A nice double would be Clijsters and Nadal to win their respective Final matches (both 8/11 at Stan James).

So, Keep the laptop handy, as this is the perfect opportunity to play with live in-play match betting with your online bookmaker. They should all provide that service, as with Virtual Sports as well (which Bet365 incidentally run a great service of). If you need a bookmaker, then have a quick look around at any of the links on this website, and take advantage of some excellent sign up offers, many of which will involve you receiving some kind of free bet.