Roy MacGregor has revealed Ross County were desperate for their clash with Rangers to go ahead but the decision was taken out of their hands by SPFL chiefs.
The Ibrox clash along with Aberdeen’s home game with Motherwell was called off after Storm Gerrit battered Scotland, crippling a lot of the country’s road networks on Wednesday. The County chairman insisted his side wanted to play the game but were left stuck as bad weather and multiple accidents on the A9 left the road closed and meant they couldn’t make the trip south.
SPFL chiefs got in touch with Police Scotland and they couldn’t give any guarantees that the road would be open in time for last night’s 7.45pm kick-off at Ibrox so they decided to make an early call on the game. Aberdeen’s game with Motherwell was also called off at 4pm after the storm led to severe flooding and saw the A90 closed in both directions. MacGregor confirmed: “It was an SPFL call, it was neither Rangers or Ross County’s decision to call the game off. It was really unfortunate for us because it was a game we wanted on.
“We missed a game last week (Hibs) and so we wanted to play this game. Unfortunately, it was out of our hands the SPFL made the decision after discussions with Police Scotland. The SPFL went to the police and they couldn’t give us any guarantees that the roads would be clear to get down in time for the game, so the decision was made to call the game off. It was difficult for the fans but what can we do when the road was shut? Rangers were also looking for an early call. They had a lot of people travelling long distances and there are also their match day costs.”
An SPFL statement confirmed the cancellation at 1.30pm. It read: “Following consultation with Police Scotland regarding today’s weather conditions on the A9, the Rangers v Ross County match has been postponed.”
A Ross County source, speaking from the bus, ahead of the postponement described the road conditions as “horrendous”.
MacGregor admitted he had left for Glasgow early and was a bit in front of the Ross County team bus but was left stuck in a three-mile long tailback for more than an hour because the road was closed at the Pass of Drumochter. It was also shut further down at Ballinluig because of water on the road.
The County chief admitted: “I was stuck for just over an hour. There had been a couple of accidents. I believe a snowplough and a lorry had both jackknifed on the road. “The team bus was just behind me, as was the kit van. The queue was three miles long from where I was sitting.
“We then got in touch with the SPFL and they checked with the police. “That was at 12.45pm and there was a judgement call to be made as to whether or not we could get down to Glasgow on time for the game. “It had nothing to do with us, as a club.”
MacGregor had admitted their bus company wasn’t keen to travel but he insisted that they made the journey.
He added: “We had to make a call today as well. “Stagecoach cancelled all their buses from Inverness. “We use D and E coaches and they didn’t really want to travel. “We told them we had to travel because we needed to play the game. The strange thing is that when you come on the road to Inverness there was quite a lot of snow. The time we got to Aviemore there was no snow. Even when we got to Drumochter, where the road was shut, there wasn’t a lot of snow. “The problem was all the water coming off the hills. “The weather is so freakish just now. “Once day it is 10 degrees and the next day there seems to be so much rain. “It is nearly impossible to second guess the weather just now.”
The postponement now gives both sides fixture headaches for after the winter break. It now means that Rangers can no longer catch Celtic until the restart while Ross County have three games on some of their rivals in the bottom half.
Rangers assistant manager Stephan Van Der Heyden admitted the call off was something of a surprise.
Van Der Hayden said: “I cannot even remember when I had a game postponed……”
It also means County have had consecutive postponements after their home game with Hibs was called off on Saturday.
Aberdeen are in the same boat after their weekend clash with Dundee was also postponed.
Dons’ chief executive Alan Burrows had tried to keep fans updated on social media but they had to eventually admit defeat yesterday afternoon.
Burrows tweeted: ‘Whilst much of Pittodrie has been battered by significant rain and gale force winds, the stadium itself and the pitch have coped admirably well.
‘However, as all major (and most minor) roads became flooded and/or unpassable, or damaged due to fallen trees, and with rail services being cancelled north of Dundee, it was clear it was going to be a very difficult ask for many supporters of both clubs to safely get to Pittodrie.
‘We remained in dialogue with all stakeholders and after putting our case across strongly to the league, it has been agreed between the two clubs, the league and Police Scotland that it is safer to rearrange the game.’
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