Storm Dennis latest: Football postponements across England and Scotland, including Rochdale, Rangers and Motherwell


Ladbrokes Premiership games at Fir Park and Ibrox have been postponed as Storm Dennis made an impact on the weekend's sporting action.

Winds of up to 70mph and up to a month's rainfall have been forecast for Saturday and, coming off the back of last week's Storm Ciara, it is presenting issues for clubs and events up and down the country.

Motherwell were set to face St Mirren but, after a 12.30pm pitch inspection, it was decided the game should be called off with the worsening forecast taken into account.

Well chief executive Alan Burrows told the club's official website: "We tried everything possible to get the game on.

"Unfortunately we have suffered from exceptional rainfall throughout the week, and in particular overnight into Saturday which has continued right through into the day. That rainfall is also forecast to continue throughout the time the match was due to be played.

"This is the first postponement we have suffered due to the pitch in over five years. Our groundsman and his staff do an incredible job and have done everything within their power to try and mitigate the need for this match to be called off."

Rangers were hoping to cut Celtic's lead at the top of the table to seven points with a win over Livingston, but the contest was cancelled just before 1pm.

Instead, Rangers hope a 24-hour postponement will allow them to fulfil their rained-off Ladbrokes Premiership clash with Livingston and avoid a nightmare fixture pile-up.

However, Livingston bosses have already expressed doubts that the game will beat the weather after revealing they had a call for the game to be played on Monday night rejected by league chiefs.

But Rangers - who face Braga in a Europa League last-32 tie on Thursday night - are keen to get the game played as soon as possible.

Rochdale's Sky Bet League One match at home to Tranmere also fell victim to the weather.

"The fourth official of today's game has taken into account the height of the water table under the pitch, the surface water on the pitch from the rain already today and the forecast of Storm Dennis, and has therefore decided to call the game off," said a statement from Rochdale.

Swindon's Sky Bet League Two game at home to Scunthorpe was postponed just over an hour before kick-off.

A Swindon statement read: "In the interests of supporter safety, club officials have made the decision to call today's game off as it became clear that the club could not guarantee the welfare of those in attendance, as the weather deteriorated throughout the day."

Nine of 12 matches in the Vanarama National League have also been postponed, while horse racing at Wincanton was abandoned with the situation being monitored on an ongoing basis in the day's three other meetings at Haydock, Lingfield and Ascot.


IMPORTANT: Sporting Life podcasts have new homes across the below platforms.

Please make sure you subscribe to ensure you don't miss future episodes of your favourite show.

Follow Sporting Life on social media - find us on Facebook here or tweet@SportingLifeFC

Related football links

Responsible gambling

We are committed in our support of responsible gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.Sky Bet's responsible gambling tools are detailed here and if you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, or visit begambleaware.org.

Like what you've read?

MOST READ FOOTBALL

Sporting Life
Join for free!
Access to exclusive features all for FREE - No monthly subscription fee
Race Replays
My stable horse tracker
giftOffers and prize draws
newsExclusive content

FOOTBALL TIPS

We are committed to Safer Gambling and have a number of self-help tools to help you manage your gambling. We also work with a number of independent charitable organisations who can offer help and answers any questions you may have.
Gamble Aware LogoGamble Helpline LogoGamstop LogoGordon Moody LogoSafer Gambling Standard LogoGamban Logo18+ LogoTake Time To Think Logo