National League match abandoned after 14 minutes of chaos

Barrow’s National League match against Forest Green Rovers was abandoned on Saturday after just 14 minutes. Referee Stuart Morland took the decision to end the game after the pitch became waterlogged due to Storm Boelo. The huge storm has hit the UK this weekend, leading to incredibly windy and rainy conditions across the country. Barrow, who are based in Barrow-in-Furness, play their football right on the North West coast and the weather has been severe. A wind warning had been announced for Northern England by the Met Office before kick-off, but the National League clash went ahead. That was despite the green light being given by referee Morland after a lengthy pitch inspection. But the game didn’t last long, with officials calling time just 14 minutes in after Barrow had already taken an early lead. With the score at 1-0 to the hosts, they posted on X : “Due to circumstances beyond our control, the game has been abandoned.” Meanwhile, after announcing the same , Forest Green wrote: “We understand this is very frustrating for the FGR supporters who have travelled to Barrow today. We wish you all safe travels back home.” The club then posted a video to X showing just how chaotic the conditions were for both teams at Holker Street. It showed a Barrow player attempting to pass the ball back to his goalkeeper, but it completely held up in the waterlogged pitch , allowing Forest Green forward Sean Etaluku a chance on goal. That was the moment that Forest Green labelled the ‘deciding factor’, and the referee subsequently called the game off. View Tweet: https://x.com/hashtag/WeAreFGR?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw ‘It was quite farcical’ Forest Green do not have a manager , but one of their coaches, Yan Klukowski discussed the abandonment post-match, “It was the right decision,” he began. “But it was quite farcical in the end, the game should never have started with the conditions of the pitch. “It was quite clear in the warm-up that the ball wasn’t rolling correctly or truly.” Klukowski added: “The referee had been here two, three hours before kick-off, he had his concerns which he highlighted before we arrived. “His communication was good…at that point you could sense there was an element of him being extremely worried. “He had the initial inspection, there was a lot of doubt but he decided we were going to give it a go, but looking back it looks like a poor decision and one he should have made then.” Will the match be rearranged? According to FA rules , the match will be replayed fully as it was abandonded due to circumstances out of the clubs’ control. A new date will be agreed by the clubs and the National League.