Scratch of the day: local football season postponed due to ‘rock hard’ pitches
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Anglian Combination League unanimously postponed its 2026/27 season start to 29 August after an urgent board meeting on Friday, citing "rock hard" pitches it deemed dangerous to players, officials and matchday staff.
- League chair Dale Brown said July was the driest month since records began in 1836, noting that pre-season friendlies had been cancelled and matches that did go ahead produced "many injuries."
- Anglian Water's hosepipe ban for Norfolk and Suffolk, in force since 11 July, is part of drought conditions formally declared across half of England last month.
- The Met Office forecasts another heatwave next week, with temperatures reaching 36C in parts of East Anglia and south-east England by Thursday and no significant rain on the horizon.
- Golf clubs, some sports clubs, and private schools enjoy controversial exemptions from hosepipe bans even as aerial images show parks and amateur sports fields dried out and devoid of green.
- The FA said it does not hold figures on how many leagues have postponed seasons due to drought, treating it as a matter for individual leagues and county football associations.
Why it matters: A grassroots amateur league with 85 teams is the first explicitly named football body to formally delay its season over drought, showing how England's water crisis now reaches community-level sport. With the Met Office forecasting another 36C heatwave and the FA declining to centralize tracking, thousands of recreational players face rescheduled calendars while clubs absorb lost matchday income.
Ask SkimNews
