Steven Ferguson insists the decision to postpone Ross County’s match against St Mirren was made as early as it could have been.
The Premiership fixture at Victoria Park was called off at 8am on Saturday morning due to Storm Babet.
Dingwall and the surrounding areas had been largely unaffected by Friday’s adverse weather, which gave rise to hope the game could go ahead.
With St Mirren having travelled to Inverness on Friday, both clubs, along with the SPFL and Police Scotland, agreed to monitor the overnight conditions.
Following consultation with the SPFL and Police Scotland, our home match against St Mirren scheduled for today has been postponed.
The date and kick-off time of the rearranged match will be confirmed in due course. pic.twitter.com/nk93V3Z85h
— Ross County FC (@RossCounty) October 21, 2023
Game was given every chance
A rapid worsening of the weather led to the early morning call-off, but County chief executive Ferguson insists the circumstances dictated the game had to be given every chance up until that point.
He said: “We couldn’t make the call on Friday because Dingwall was absolutely fine.
“The route to Dingwall, and Dingwall itself was just avoiding the weather warning zones.
“St Mirren had done it properly – they had travelled up and were in Inverness by teatime when the weather was still fine.
“Everybody, between Ross County, St Mirren, the SPFL and the police gave it every chance.
“The decision was that we would need to see what happened overnight.
“At all times the communication was very transparent – everybody was looking for the game to be on.
“We tried to be as fair to everybody as we could.
“We assessed it first thing in the morning and the decision was pretty unanimous that the safety of supporters and staff was the most important thing.
“It’s pretty wet around the car parks. Although the pitch is wet, that was probably the last thing we thought about.
“Although we all wanted it to go ahead, the weather just didn’t allow it to go ahead.”
Weather turned overnight on Friday
Although the Victoria Park surface was playable, Ferguson insists travelling conditions in surrounding areas was the main factor taken into consideration when postponing the fixture.
Ferguson added: “The conditions, and the information we were getting, and the fact St Mirren were in Inverness, all leaned towards waiting until the day of the game to see how it was going to go.
“We were all thinking there was a real chance the game could still go ahead, or we would have called it on Friday.
“The weather in Dingwall all week, including yesterday, was absolutely fine. I don’t think the rain actually started until the early hours of this morning.
“It couldn’t have been called on Friday.
“We are frustrated – we had 300 people eating and we had 100 kids on a fun day.
“All that frustration comes, but what is important is the right decision is made. I think everybody can settle on this being the right decision.”
Concern over Tuesday’s trip to Dundee
It is the third successive weekend in which County are out of action, with their last match a 1-0 home defeat to Hearts on September 30.
The Staggies are due to face Dundee on Tuesday night, in a rearranged fixture at Dens Park.
With Dundee and Tayside having been among the areas most heavily affected by Storm Babet, Ferguson says the club are already monitoring the situation ahead of the fixture.
He added: “We have got concerns around Tuesday.
“It’s horrendous for people in the east coast.
“We have not seen any of it in the Highlands, certainly not in and around Inverness and Dingwall.
“Sometimes it’s hard to actually get a proper feel for what’s happening in other parts of the country.
“But when you watch the news, you see the horrendous scenes down that east coast and in other areas.
“We are heading to Dundee on Tuesday, which has been an area that has had the brunt of it.
“Hopefully everybody is well and safe down there.
“We will need to have those communications with Dundee, the SPFL and the police to see where we go.”
Conversation