Soccer Big Freeze Costs League Clubs £2,000,000 In Gates

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30059, 18 February 1963, Page 17

Soccer Big Freeze Costs League Clubs £2,000,000 In Gates

(KJSfJL.-Rnter—Copyright) LONDCM, February 17. Tha former England aoccer captain, S. Hayneg, made a succtMtul return to ItagUah League aoccer yeeterday after being out of the game for eeven montho following a car accident. Haynes, veteran of M internationals and England’s captain unta ha fractured an ankle and damaged a knee in the car accident last August, helped Fulham to draw 1-1 away with Leyton Orient in a match between the bottom two clubs in the First Division. For the ninth successive Saturday, bad weather caused the postponement of most English and Scottish League matches. Altogether only 11 matches were played in the four English leagues, and in Scotland only two matches took place. • It has been estimated that the "big freeze” has now cost British professional soccer clubs about £2,000,000 in gate receipts. The biggest crowd of the day —nearly 54,000—saw Liverpool beat Wolverhampton Wanderers, 4-1, in one of the four First Division matches. The lesdlng clubs—Tottenham, Everton, Leicester and Burnley

—were all without a game because of the weather, and Liverpool took the chance to move almost within striking rltetany of thorn. The English Third Division, leader. Peterborough United? which spent MOO employing 40 men to dear away 100 tons of tee off the pitch, was beaten, 3-1, by Wrexham. Scotland had waited six weeks for a First Division game, and the only match— Aberdeen against St. Mirrenproduced only one goal. It was enough to give St Mirror two unexpected points. Once again a panel of experts was employed by the pools promoters to guess the results of matches not played. Results of matches played were:— ENGLISH LEAGUE Division I.—Arsenal 3. Bolton 2; Leyton 1, Fulham 1; Liverpool 4, Wolverhampton 1: Sheffield United 0, West Ham 2. Division H.—Middlesbrough 0, Grimsby 1. Division Hl.—Bristol City 4. Bradford 2; Millwall 2, ColChester 1; Peterborough 1, Wrexham 1 Division Uli.—Barrow 1, Brentford M 1; Gillingham 2, Workington It Torquay 5, Southport 1.

SCOTTISH LEAGUE Division L—Aberdeen 0, St Mirren 1. .Division EL—Gtenhouaemuir 1. Hast Fife A I KISH LEAGUE Ards 0, Portadown 0: Crusaders 3, Colerain 2; Derry 1. Ballymena 1; Glenavon S, Cllftonville 2; Glentoran S, Distillery 1. Results of postponed games as assessed by Ute panel of experts were:— ENGLISH LEAGUE Division I.—Birmingham v. Leicester (away win); Blackburn v. Manchester City (home Win); Blackpool v. Burney (draw); Ipswich v. Aston Villa (home); Manchester United v. Sheffield Wednesday (home); Nottingham Forest v. Tottenham (draw); West Bromwich v. Everton (home). , , Division H.—Bury v. Stoke (away); Cardiff v. Preston (home); Chelsea v. Portsmouth (home); Derby v. Norwich (awav); Huddersfield v. Plymouth (home); Luton V. Swansea (home); Newcastle v. Walsall (home); Rotherham v. Charlton (home); Scnuthorpe v. Sunderland (home); Southampton v. Leeds (draw). Division Hl.—Barnsley v. Crystal Palace (home); Brighton v. Watford (away); Carlisle v. Bristol Rovers ' (draw); Northampton v. Hun (home); Queen's Park Rangers v. Southend (draw); Shrewsburyv. Notts County (home); Swindon v. Halifax (draw). Division. TV.—Bradford City v. Newport (away); . Chester v. Chesterfield (draw); Crewe v. Exter (home); Lincoln v. DarSi», (away); Oldham v. (pools (home); Oxford d v. Doncaster (home); Stockport v. Mansfield (home); Tranmere v. Aidershot (draw); York v. Rochdale (away). Scottish League Division I.—Dundee v. Hibernian (home); Best Fite v. Third Lanark (away); Kilmarnock y. Queen of the South (draw): Queen's park v. Dundee United (away).