EFL urged to punish Portsmouth after 'ridiculous' Ipswich Town situation at Fratton Park | OneFootball

For the second time this season, Ipswich Town's away clash with Portsmouth has had to be postponed

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

In an extraordinary series of events, for the second time in less than a month, Ipswich Town's away fixture to Portsmouth had to be postponed due to the condition of the pitch at Fratton Park.

In a far from ideal scenario for both Portsmouth and Ipswich, for the second time this season, their clash on the South Coast has had to be postponed due to the condition of the pitch.

Their first fixture was due to be played on January 4th, but referee Leigh Doughty deemed the pitch unplayable after it was frozen over, in a decision which no doubt infuriated the travelling team and fans, who had already embarked on their journey down to Pompey long before the decision had been made.

Remarkably, though, that would not be the end of the saga, with the moved fixture, due to be played on February 3rd, also having to be called off, this time due to a waterlogged pitch, despite Portsmouth's claims that they did everything possible for the game to go ahead.

This time, a decision was made well before Ipswich fans were due to set off, though it has not prevented those affiliated with the Tractor Boys from understandably venting their frustrations.

It was the first time a fixture had to be postponed at Fratton Park due to a waterlogged pitch in over 13 years, and now, with the fixture due to be rescheduled once again, calls for a punishment from the away party have come to the fore.

Ipswich Town fan pundit calls for Pompey punishment following second fixture postponement in less than a month

Football League World's Ipswich fan pundit, Adam, has provided their thoughts over the most recent postponement of their away clash with Portsmouth, and whether a punishment should be in order, given it is the second time that this has happened.

Adam said, "I think it's a very rare situation in football where games are postponed twice in a row and I really feel for the fans who had started traveling down, at least this time it was called off with a bit more time in hand, but I think there has to be punishments by the EFL if this happens, whether that's fines or maybe not as extreme as point deductions."I don't think giving the game to Ipswich is probably a fair thing, but the idea of moving it to a stadium that does have the facilities and isn't going to get called off, but I think there's a bigger problem in that the Championship should have better regulations around pitches and the quality of pitches."When you get promoted to the Premier League, there are a bunch of regulations that have to be fulfilled for broadcast requirements and a bunch of other requirements."I see no reason why there shouldn't be a set of regulations in the Championship that are similar and include pitch conditions, because in this day and age, to have a match called off twice due to pitch conditions is a bit ridiculous."

Kieran McKenna will be furious at the second Portsmouth postponement with Ipswich Town in the midst of a promotion battle

Few people will be more agitated at Ipswich's most recent postponement away to Portsmouth than head coach Kieran McKenna.

Along with their first and second postponement away to Portsmouth, they have also had to replay their away fixture with Blackburn Rovers, after their game at Ewood Park in September was abandoned late on with the Tractor Boys 1-0 down.

They did once again go 1-0 down, but were rescued by a late Sindre Walle Egeli goal to make it 1-1 and claim a point.

This means that on three separate occasions just this season alone, Ipswich have seen their fixtures either abandoned or postponed, in a truly unprecedented sequence of events.

When their rescheduled fixture with Portsmouth will be played remains to be seen, though in the meantime, the Tractor Boys will feel it to be justified for some punishment to be in order for Pompey for failing to provide a viable playing service twice in less than a month.

Indeed, Portsmouth can do little to help with the elements, and given that it would have been their third home match in less than ten days, it can be viewed as a vastly unfortunate situation.

However, with Ipswich in a battle at the summit of the division, they will spare little sympathy for Pompey, as McKenna, for the second time this season, has had to scrap his side's preparations for their away trip to Fratton Park.

Whether Portsmouth will face any punishment remains to be seen; both sides will share frustration at the events, but Ipswich more so.