Arsenal duo Beth Mead and Vivienne Miedema weigh in on WSL fixture chaos
Beth Mead says the women's game still has a "long way to go" after a weekend of WSL action was overshadowed by postponements due to the cold weather and a lack of undersoil heating.
The Arsenal and England star took was amongst a string of top players who took to social media to vent their frustration at Sunday's fixture chaos. Chelsea v Liverpool was abandoned after just six minutes of play due to a frozen pitch, despite Kingsmeadow passing a pre-match inspection at 9.30am.
Tottenham v Leicester was called off on Saturday and Brighton's clash with Arsenal was also postponed later on Sunday due to a frozen pitch. Reading's game with Manchester United did go ahead at the Select Car Leasing Stadium where undersoil heating was in place, United winning 1-0.
But with half of the WSL's weekend fixture programme wiped out, fans and players have questioned the league's organisers. Mead and Arsenal teammate and partner Vivienne Miedema were particularly vocal.
Writing on Twitter, Mead said: "On a serious note, one of the top leagues in Europe and we are cancelling games cause of frozen pitches. Not good enough, the women’s game is heading in the right direction but still a long way to go."
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Dutch star Miedema had already posted: "Players safety should always come first. Luckily no one got injured today. Only way to fix this is to demand undersoil heating or playing our games in men’s stadiums. FA and clubs, please do better."
The worst situation came at Chelsea's Kingsmeadow stadium, where the Blues clash with Liverpool was deemed 'on' only for it to become evident that the pitch was unsuitable and dangerous. Emma Hayes took to the stadium PA to apologise to the fans after the game.
And her midfielder Erin Cuthbert also apologised to the Chelsea faithful on social media. The Scottish midfielder posted: "So so sorry to all our fans who turned up today and braved the cold weather.
"This shouldn’t be happening and we will demand more for our game. Angry and frustrated but we will be ready for Wednesday @ChelseaFCW."
Her teammate Fran Kirby agreed and said that women's football deserves better than the farcical scenes we saw at Kingsmeadow. The Lionesses star wrote on Twitter: "Apologies to both sets of fans who travelled today.
"Players safety should always be the number one priority. Luckily no one was injured today and the right decision was taken eventually. Women's football deserves better and we won’t stop fighting to make that happen."
On the lighter side, Arsenal's Lotte Wubben Moy produced a wonderful gesture for fans who had already travelled down for the Brighton game when it was officially called off. The defender ensured fans from the supporters club were able to get a drink on her, whilst also insisting that changes "will be made", in regards to the postpone issue.
She said: "To anyone at the New Moon Pub in Crawley … @ArsenalWomenSC
"I have put some money behind the bar for you all. Get a cranberry juice and crisps on me. Enjoy the men’s game. Sorry about our postponed game. Changes need to be made. They will be made. In the meantime, stay hydrated."
Following the Chelsea v Liverpool match, a WSL spokesman said: "We worked hard with the clubs and the match officials to safely play the Barclay’s Women’s Super League fixture between Chelsea and Liverpool as scheduled.
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"Following inspections before the match, the pitch was deemed to be playable by the matchday referee. However, shortly after kick off, the referee made the decision to abandon the match in order to protect the safety of the players, which is paramount. We sincerely apologise to all fans who travelled to the match. The fixture will be rescheduled in due course."
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