Heavy snow across the country has wreaked havoc with fixtures this week, with the Blues match against Scunthorpe and the Robins at Northampton, both on Tuesday night, called off due to the elements.
Shrimpers who turned up at Roots Hall on Tuesday to help clear the pitch were rewarded when referee Mr. Hill gave the thumbs up after his afternoon inspection.
To let them all down six hours later, 20 minutes before kick-off when it was called off!
Good Luck Guys!
So while the mood is positive that Saturday's game will be given the thumbs up, volunteers are being requested by the Wiltshire club to help clear the sheets, which are currently protecting the pitch, of snow and uncover the surface.
Swindon will provide supporters who help with bacon rolls and cups of tea in reward for their efforts, not sure the Blues management did that!
Groundsman Marcus Cassidy admitted: "It will take a big effort but hopefully we can get some fans down here to get the snow off the sheets. They get very heavy with snow or when they are wet and we want as many hands as possible. We need to get the sheets off as soon as possible because then I've got to actually do work to the pitch to get it rolled, get it flat and get it marked out. We will look at it on Friday and discuss it then with the referee, the chief executive, the manager, and then on Saturday morning come in about 7am and decide the best course of action. At the moment I'm confident the game will go ahead. The forecast gets updated every six hours and is changing all the time, but as we stand it's looking good.
We will see, but a call off announced at 14.40 on the day will be too much!
At least I'll have had several beers this time, but if it is to be postponed let's hope it's after that 7.00 inspection if not before.