Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has said women’s football needs to be “taken more seriously”, after her side’s game against Liverpool was abandoned due to a frozen pitch.
Only six minutes had passed when referee Paul Howard ruled out the teams.
The game had started as scheduled at 12.30pm at Kingsmeadow in Kingston upon Thames after a pitch inspection.
“We have to say it’s time to get the floor warmed up,” Hayes told BBC Two. “The game should never have started.”
Chelsea were hoping to extend their four-point lead over Manchester United at the top of the Women’s Super League.
“It’s not for managers to decide if that’s the case – it’s for the FA and the officials,” added Hayes. “You have to tell yourself that it’s time to warm up the ground. We have to take our game seriously. Yes, we can have our blowers and set up tents but that’s not enough.”
Liverpool manager Matt Beard agreed the game shouldn’t have started and was surprised to hear it would start on time.
“Chelsea did everything they could to try and get the game going,” he said. “I’m surprised it started at 12:30 p.m. because we were told this morning we could try to start the game at 2:00 p.m. but we got a phone call to say the game was back at 12:30 p.m. I was a little surprised.
“The temperature wasn’t going to change all day. It’s only going to get colder now.”
Former England and Brighton manager Hope Powell echoed the feelings of both coaches, saying the situation was “embarrassing” for the game.
“They should have called it off before, the pitch was hard and I doubted he would go ahead. But to start the game and then realize that five minutes was dangerous for many players is very embarrassing. is not beautiful.”
