UPDATE: Raith Rovers Fixture

The ‘Beast from the East’ as is the case throughout Scotland and beyond is causing problems for Forfar Athletic into the bargain.

Though the Forfar area to date has not been hit as badly as some, getting Station Park playable in the first instance and more importantly keeping it playable for the visit of league leaders Raith Rovers this coming Saturday is already proving a mammoth task for groundsman Martin Gray.

Sitting behind the wheel of his trusty tractor/mini snowplough Martin spent upwards of eight hours on Wednesday clearing Tuesday’s night’s snowfall from the playing surface, only to be confronted with the same scenario this morning.

As I write Martin is again hard at work on the surface but the problem of course is more snow is forecast.

The club have agreed with SPFL officials that they will evaluate the situation on Friday morning before deciding on whether an inspection for example can be delayed till Saturday morning.

Obviously if there is hope on Friday morning of the game going ahead, a few volunteers would be required to clear snow and salt/prepare the North and East terracing and access areas.

Have your shovels etc at the ready folks!

It will be a major disappointment to ‘Loons’ officials and to Martin in particular if the game does not go ahead, not only for obvious current reasons, but also the fact it would be the first competitive game at Station Park to fail to beat the vagaries of the Scottish weather since the 3G playing surface was installed in the summer of 2012.

Since that opening Challenge Cup tie in July of that year against Dunfermline Athletic not one Forfar Athletic home league or cup fixture has been postponed a remarkable record which without doubt just over 48 hours before kick-off this week is we have to admit under threat.