Portsmouth CEO Andy Cullen defends the postponement of the Ipswich game for a second time, after there was backlash from fans.
He also spoke more on the state of the Fratton Park pitch, talking to Jordan Clark on BBC Radio Solent: “Very sorry that we can’t give you live football tonight and indeed all our supporters. We are hugely disappointed.
“We’ve been on a really good run. Unbeaten in four, undefeated in nine and it was a game that we were really relishing tonight.
“So disappointed and apologise to everybody that we’re not able to get the game on. But the facts are we’ve had nearly sort of two inches of rain since Sunday.
❌ GAME OFF.#Pompey‘s clash with Ipswich has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
This is after persistent overnight rain, continuing into the morning and forecast to last until close to kick-off, has fallen on already saturated ground. pic.twitter.com/VdBMyW7U5p
— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) February 3, 2026
“As everybody knows in Portsmouth, we’re on an island. We are sort of very vulnerable to high ground water levels.
“So we are prone to flooding and there’s virtually with all the rain we’ve had in January, we’ve recorded 205 millimetres of the stadium.
“I’m not quite sure what that is in pound, shilling and pence, but it compares to a five year average in January of 90 millimetres.
“So two and a half times rainfall on January already in the ground. And then Sunday, as indeed a whole of the BBC Solent region has been impacted and affected. It’s been difficult.
“Our ground staff are really, really good. We rely on medium range weather forecasts, long range weather forecasts just to make sure we’re properly prepared.
“And we saw this coming in a week ago and we’ve aerated the pitch over the last week. We’ve actually bought in or hired in what’s called an Air 2G2 machine, which basically aerates the pitch at a depth of up to nine inches. And you can sort of complete the work. It doesn’t affect the playability of the pitch. It uses pressurised air.
“And we had that working on the machine constantly in the run up to the West Brom game because we were forecast with torrential rain on Saturday, which didn’t didn’t transpire, fortunately.
“And then we used it again Saturday evening throughout Sunday. The ground staff were out all day Sunday in that horrible weather. And again yesterday as well, we had a dry spell.
“And ironically, the game had been played last night, we’d have probably been able to play it. But today’s been, you know, it’s been absolutely terrible. And it didn’t stop raining until about twenty past five, half an hour ago.
“We had some what’s called some boundary blotters. Those who play cricket will be familiar with those. They physically remove the surface water.
“We could have used those if the rain had stopped this afternoon. But it didn’t. You know, we’ve had additional pitch light rigs coming in. And the staff have been incredibly working hard on this pitch over the last week or so with three games in the space of nine days.
“So really, really disappointing that despite that, you know, despite their work and their efforts, that we’ve not been able to get the game on tonight. And yeah, I think we’ve done all we possibly could, but we’ve fallen victim to the weather.”
Jordan: “And I guess your concern is you look at the forecast, Andrew, and it doesn’t look like it’s ever ending, this rain. It’s relentless, as you’ve said already, and still more to come. Any indication when that game will be rescheduled for yet?”
Andy: “Not yet. We’re looking at the various windows we’ve got in place. We’ve got another game in the calendar, which has now been made, which was the game at Charlton, which sadly was abandoned following the death of a Charlton supporter. But that game’s been rearranged for the 17th of February.
“We’ve got a number of midweeks that we’re looking at. And we’ll work with Ipswich on getting that date in the diary as soon as we possibly can.”
He told The News: “I think we are victims of what’s happening at the moment in terms of the rainfall on the south coast, with wet warnings over the last few days.
“We’ve had three (scheduled) matches in 10 days and the team has worked really, really hard. The average rainfall in January over the last five years is 90 mm. The rainfall this January has been 205 mm – nearly double-and-a-half of the rainfall we would normally expect.
“The ground was totally saturated. We all live in Portsmouth, we know it’s a low-lying island by the sea with a water table which is really, really high. So rain gets here really, really quickly and there’s nowhere for it to run off to.
“ll three of our home games since January 25 were potentially under threat. We had Southampton, West Brom and then Ipswich.
“Over the last 10 days we had aerated the pitch, taking it to the depth of 4 inches so it could assist with faster draining, which also helps with root development. We brought in an Air2G2 machine which uses pressurised air which decompacts the soil and helps with drainage.
“We brought that machine in after Southampton and have been using it constantly. Before the West Brom game, after it, over the weekend and on Monday.
“We also brought in boundary blotters, which remove the surface water. We had those ready to go on Tuesday morning ahead of the game, but it was no use because we couldn’t actually use them until the rain had stopped.
“In addition, we brought in an additional two pitch lights to help with the pitch’s recovery. The team probably spent the best part of nearly 300 hours on the pitch in the last 10 days between them – but the weather has defeated us in the end.”
Here’s the social media reaction prior to Portsmouth CEO Andy Cullen, who defends the Ipswich postponement after backlash from fans…
@cj_pompey: I thought this was a joke at first. Doesn’t look good really does it. At least most Ipswich fans shouldn’t have left yet. I do appreciate all the rain we’ve had but thought drainage was all sorted at the ground 🙈
@DeclanPFC03: Ipswich can’t beat us if they can’t play us have that Ipswich fans x
@pfcmccloud: We are inevitably getting smacked 4-0 when this fixtures finally gets played out in some sort of bad karma fashion
@mithITFC: How pathetic. That’s twice fans have paid for travel/accommodation etc for the game to be called off. Pompey should be reimbursing all fans who have already paid for commitments, or forfeiting the game. Simple as 👍 #itfc #pompey
@Iain_Macdonald7: Waterlogged pitch at this level is just a little embarrassing, especially given this game already being postponed once. Probably forgot to register the loans in time or they have already pulled their hamstrings so delaying game to get them back.
@SirTimKenny: Hotel booked. Car prepped. 95 miles driven. Nephew’s Christmas present, a ticket to see his home town team playing in the city where he now lives and works. Clacket Lane services has never looked so bleak. I am not happy.
@itfc_louis2: Not even joking, surely this means Pompey have to forfeit and we get the 3 points. Can’t put into words how pathetic and embarrassing this is for them. This can’t keep happening.
@James_primee: Cant we just play at a nearby proper ground like Southampton who actually invest in their playing surface
@DGDCampbell: I know this is ridiculous, but as someone who made the wasted first trip and was two hours away from an unrefundable hotel booking today, I’m grateful #itfc pushed for an early announcement here. Third time’s a charm, I hope… 🙏
@sfcwxl: AFC Totton, a club in the 6th tier of english football, have better facilities than you tinpot lot
@pfcmccloud: Sorry lads, just need a bit longer for our signings to settle in and get a few of our injured players back 👍 #ITFC
@LeeMasonPFC: Can we just let you know when we’ve got a fully fit team and we’ll play it then?
@bengunton333: Unpopular opinion: Teams need to be deducted points for not having a sustainable pitch in 2026
@PompeyPedro: Hahaha my pissboiling Blues 😍😍 Shoutout to the very thoughtful weather gods for conveniently giving our new signings time to be registered, our injured players more time to get fit and our not injured players more time to rest before the next games. 3rd time lucky 🔵
@Pompeyboyblues: Sorry lads. Again, we’ve got loads of injuries. We’ll play one day we promise 👍
@rebzeleanor: You couldn’t make this up 😂😂😂 Once again Games in Hand FC, the team for me
@HarvMarksy: You are taking the fucking piss hahhahaha. I was convinced that was a wind up when that come up on my phone. Ipswich can rightly take the piss as much as they want now.
@pompeychiv: Just have to laugh at this point. Still gives us time to get some players back and imbed our new signings 😏
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