Crawley announce last-minute postponement of League Two play-off against MK Dons

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The football club Crawley Town has declared that their League Two play-off semi-final initial match against MK Dons has been cancelled because of a pitch flooded with water.

The game was supposed to start at 3pm today, but a last-minute decision was made at 11:15am because of the condition of the field.

The game is going to be played again on Tuesday 7 May starting at 7:30 in the evening.

The club released a message expressing their dissatisfaction and disappointment at having to cancel today's Sky Bet League Two Play-Off Semi-Final first leg. The reason for the cancellation was due to the stadium's surface becoming waterlogged.

Referee Ross Joyce clarified why he made the decision: "I received a call this morning at 9:15am notifying me that there were worries about the condition of the field. The rain overnight exceeded the predicted amount. Upon arriving here, it was evident that this game was very uncertain."

There has been a significant amount of rainfall on the playing field. The area appears to be completely saturated with water. Our team had a meeting with the groundskeeper and also discussed with MK Dons regarding options that were available to us, such as delaying the beginning of the game.

Sadly, the game can't happen because the rain is pouring down hard. We had to make a tough choice about it. We talked to the person who takes care of the field and they said there's a high chance the game will happen tomorrow evening. The weather will be preferable, it's supposed to be dry from this evening until tomorrow.

We have sufficient resources available to remove the water from the pitch. We believe that we will be ready for tomorrow evening. It's just unfortunate that today is the only day with rain among all the days this week. We were affected by more than an inch of rainfall, and it has caused us some inconvenience today.

Sky Sports featured visuals displaying workers examining the field, observing puddles in both the penalty zones.

The second match of the competition, which was initially planned to happen on Thursday, May 9th, has been rescheduled to Saturday, May 11th at 7:45 in the evening.

The announcement caused uproar among supporters of MK Dons, who were en route to Sussex for the game.

A follower on X, previously known as Twitter, described the action as "shameful", while another referred to it as "pitiful".

Several supporters have also brought up the matter of expenses related to travel, with a particular comment saying: "Are you planning on reimbursing me for the £84 I had to pay for a train ride all the way from Liverpool?"

In the upcoming League Two semi-finals, Crewe Alexandra has been pitted against Doncaster.

The match that will determine the winner of League Two's play-offs is slated to happen at Wembley on the 19th of May.