Everton’s English Premier League game with Liverpool at Goodison Park has been postponed as Storm Darragh continues to rip through the UK’s sporting schedule.
Huge winds are expected with warnings put out by the Met Office and the decision has been taken to postpone the clash, which was due to take place on Saturday afternoon at 12.30 pm. The game was set to be the last Goodison Park clash between the Premier League rivals, with those in the blue half of the city preparing to move to their new venue in Bramley Moore Dock next season.
They will now have to find a new date – and Everton said on social media: “Today’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park has been postponed due to adverse weather conditions.”
They then said in a statement: Following a Safety Advisory Group meeting at Goodison Park, attended by officials from both clubs, as well as representatives from Merseyside Police and Liverpool City Council this morning, it was decided that, due to the risk to safety in the local area due to strong wind gusts, and an amber severe wind warning that remains in place until 6 am on Sunday, todays fixture should be postponed on safety grounds.
We apologize for the inconvenience caused and thank supporters for their understanding. Whilst we appreciate this will be deeply disappointing for supporters, the safety of fans, staff, and players is of paramount importance. Information relating to a rearranged date for the fixture will be announced in due course. All tickets purchased for the original fixture will remain valid for the rearranged fixture.
On Friday night the Toffees and Liverpool had put out a joint statement urging fans to be careful with their travel plans. They had been anticipating that the match would still go ahead, but as the weather worsened they were left with no choice. An amber weather alert is out over Merseyside.
Arne Slot’s side had been hoping to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to ten points, even if only for a few hours. They drew in midweek which allowed the closing pack to narrowly cut the gap, but they could now find themselves four points ahead of some of their rivals.
December presents a raft of fixtures and Liverpool remains in the hunt for every competition. It means finding a new date is set to be challenging.
Just up the road at Aintree, the racecourse was forced to postpone their race meet on Saturday as the track began to take damage as a result of Storm Darragh. Already several matches have fallen foul of the elements. The Welsh FA have announced that all matches in Wales have been postponed, Cardiff City’s clash with Watford in the Championship was called off. Plymouth Argyle has also confirmed that their Championship match against Oxford United has been postponed.
A rare red weather warning is in place in Wales and south-west England, which means Storm Darragh could pose a danger to life. A wind gust of 93mph (150 kmh) was recorded on Saturday morning in Wales and heavy rain has been forecast today in some areas.
An amber weather warning is in place for western parts of England and Wales, the south-west of Scotland and the majority of Northern Ireland.
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