DENNYFIELD was deserted last week when it should have been teeming with locals getting behind their team for the last time this calendar year.

Thackley had just one scheduled home game from November 22 through until January 10 and it should have been played on Saturday. Sub-zero temperatures overnight put the fixture against Armthorpe Welfare under threat and, following a morning pitch inspection, the club got the news they feared.

The match was postponed due to a frozen pitch and Thackley were left to count the cost and calculate the lost revenue.

Committeeman Mick Lodge, a former secretary and press officer, said: "The match was called off by a local referee.

"The pitch was frozen and, in his opinion, would not have thawed to be safe to play on by the 3pm kick-off time.

"It was a judgement call on whether the pitch would have been safe. The areas that had seen sunshine all morning were still crisp and the referee decided that there was not enough time for the goalmouth at the car park end to thaw out sufficiently."

The club knew it was going to be a financial burden one way or the other as soon as the match was in doubt.

Thackley are battling to stay afloat, with resources stretched to the limit, but the club had to accept the outcome of the late-morning inspection.

Lodge said: "In my opinion, it could have been played – but two weeks ago I decided that the pitch was fit for our game against Parkgate, despite the overnight rain. The match referee decided to call it off at 2pm and, because Parkgate had travelled, we were fined and had to pay a set amount for their travel cost.

"Everyone except the ref thought it was playable on that occasion. We had to pay half of the match officials' fee and their travel expenses.

"On top of that, we had to pay for the programmes and the food that we had bought had to be thrown away. We lost potential bar and burger bar sales.

"So in a way, last Saturday's early postponement was better, even though it cost us again for programmes and food etc."