Postponing Cove Rangers clash the right call, says Stenhousemuir boss Gary Naysmith after Storm Bert chaos

The Ochilview side’s first-team squad headed to Broxden services in Perth to travel up to Aberdeen for their William Hill League One fixture against Cove Rangers despite an amber weather warning being issued last Thursday for Perth and Kinross and Aberdeenshire.

Every SPFL club was emailed on Friday and given the opportunity to discuss their fixtures this weekend in light of Storm Bert forecasts – but Stenhousemuir’s fixture was given the green light with the Balmoral Stadium pitch playable.

And that call to keep the game on led to the Stenhousemuir team bus being stuck at Broxden services on the advice of Police Scotland with the fixture only postponed by the SPFL on the grounds of public safety at midday.

"I understand that the Cove pitch was playable but it was dangerous for us to try and get there,” former Scotland full-back Naysmith told the Falkirk Herald.

"They could have made that call a bit quicker than they did.

"The hard thing about our game for the SPFL in particular was that there was no snow at Cove and the pitch was playable.

"We were meeting at Broxden for 10am but some of the players didn't arrive there until 11.45am because of the snow.

"We were then stuck there and it was clear from what the police had said that we wouldn’t be moving for a few hours.

"When that message was filtered back to the league (SPFL) that was when the call was made to cancel our game.

"When I was driving up from Edinburgh for the bus, it was pretty clear the weather to try and get up the was ridiculous.”

A Cove Rangers spokesperson said the club was “disappointed not to be able to play the match” after the SPFL eventually called off the clash late in the day.

“The Balmoral Stadium pitch was cleared of snow on Thursday, and all surrounding areas have been made safe,” they said.

"Two local clubs were training at the ground this morning and we had every confidence the game would go ahead.

“But taking into consideration the alerts being issued by Police Scotland and the Met Office warning against unnecessary travel, and the difficulties being faced not just by Stenhousemuir, but by other clubs around the country, the SPFL made the call.

"Having done everything we could, we are disappointed not to be able to play the match, but we fully understand and respect the decision; the safety of supporters, players and club staff has to be paramount.”

The fixture will need to be rearranged, alongside a host of other SPFL matches, and Naysmith believes that common sense should prevail going forward after Saturday’s travel chaos.

He hopes that the SPFL will consider postponing matches earlier and introduce a rule that would allow winter postponements to be automatically carried to at least February, in order to reduce potentially dangerous travel during the festive months.

"No doubt the league (SPFL) will want us to play this game before Christmas but is that really sensible?,” Naysmith said.

“Having a game rearranged for a cold Tuesday night up in Aberdeen for a part-time team during the winter months?

“That sort of weather could happen again. A good rule would be if a game is called off from the middle of November to December then it doesn’t get played before February.

“Something like that could be the way forward. We do live in Scotland.”

In the lower leagues, 11 matches in total were called off due to adverse weather conditions on Saturday. Lowland League and East of Scotland fixtures were also cancelled.

Prior to the arrival of Storm Bert, Superintendent Vinnie Fisher, deputy head of Road Policing with Police Scotland, said: “All road users should consider if they really need to travel in adverse weather.”