‘Absolute joke’ - Football fan fury at major Mansfield Town vs Accrington Stanley announcement

Supporters are furious as Mansfield Town’s fixture with Accrington Stanley was called off less than two hours before kick-off.

Officials judged the pitch as “unplayable” and postponed the fixture - leaving fans who made the 210-mile-round trip gutted. News filtered through to supporters at around 1.30pm - with the game set to take place 90 minutes later.

A club statement on social media confirmed the setback - forcing fans to rethink their Easter Monday plans. The announcement read: “Mansfield Town expresses its disappointment in announcing that today’s Sky Bet League Two encounter at home to Accrington Stanley has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. The match referee deemed the pitch unplayable following a routine inspection of the playing surface."

Fury ensued online, with some fans calling for a points deduction after realising the cancellation was not an April Fool’s joke. One even called for the government to outlaw late postponements.

“The game surely should be on,” the post read. “And definitely not off as it was such late notice. “It should be made illegal for games to be postponed less than 3 hours prior to kick-off.

“Tinpot and disgusting for failing to get the game on and for having poor drainage which has made me feel bad, grumpy and wild. “(They need new drainage installed this summer to prevent further postponements like this from next season onwards, which makes the club a joke.”

Another sympathised with the travelling Stanley fans who made the wasted journey. The post read: “90 mins before kick-off? Absolute joke. Poor Accy fans and Stags fans travelling from afar! It's not rained here in Mansfield since this morning so they would've known by then if the pitch was going to be playable. Instead, the ref waits until 90 mins before kickoff!”