Derby County and Bristol City were forced to have their pre-season friendly against each other called off overnight due to thunder and lightning in Florida.
The game was originally going to be played over four 30-minute quarters, though play was suspended after 16 minutes – with Bristol City 1-0 up thanks to Famara Diedhiou – due to safety concerns.
Sports journalist Gregor MacGregor said: “The thunder sirens are blaring – there’s a storm brewing and the players have left the pitch under orders from the ref. Going to be 15 minutes to see of the weather clears but there is lightning at the IMG.”
The storm is coming. Derby County v Bristol City. #bcfc #dcfc #ncfc #skybet @SkyBetChamp pic.twitter.com/nKYYBBd652
— Roger Mallett (@Blurboy1980) July 13, 2019
"Guys, are we playing or not?"#RobinsInTheStates pic.twitter.com/dDyjgYCEkO
— Bristol City FC (@BristolCity) July 14, 2019
After a 40 minute delay, the game resumed but the first half would be 45 minutes long, as opposed to the scheduled 30 minutes.
During the lengthly delay, Bristol City player Matty Taylor turned into the stadium announcer and started singing ‘Sweet Caroline’.
When lightning stops play…@matthewtaylor69 decides to become the stadium announcer ???#BRCDER pic.twitter.com/wW5oWqkkQa
— Bristol City FC (@BristolCity) July 13, 2019
An assessment took place at half time to determine what will happen for the rest of the game following the rain and wind turning heavier.
It was then announced that the game was called off and that play between the two sides would resume at 9:30am ET (14.30pm BST) today.
Live scenes from @IMGAcademy:#RobinsInTheStates pic.twitter.com/7iFeLr8u2D
— Bristol City FC (@BristolCity) July 13, 2019
This evening's pre-season fixture against Bristol City has been abandoned at half time due to extreme weather conditions. pic.twitter.com/NR6OsHOnpC
— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) July 13, 2019
Before the storm hit… ⚡?️
Take a look behind the scenes of Derby County's clash with Bristol City before severe weather put a stop to the game. pic.twitter.com/tX3BFs2bYI
— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) July 14, 2019
Rams player Curtis Davies spoke after the game, he said after being asked if he had ever experienced something like that: No, it’s obviously bizarre when you come to a place like this, there is going to be weather warnings at times but for it to happen 15 minutes into the game and the player be dragged off the pitch, it was obviously a big surprise and then we all sort of wondered what was going on, we thought it was going to be 10 minutes, then 15, then half an hour, and then it was about 40 minutes we got going again.
He then spoke about rushing inside to keep warm after only just coming back from injury, so he hopped on the bike ‘to keep going’.
Watch more of what he had to say in the video below…
⛈️?@TheCurtisDavies speaks honestly after last night's abandonment… pic.twitter.com/NkAuW5PTsb
— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) July 14, 2019
After keeping updated via the in game tweets but also watching the live stream, fans took to give their shocked and rather amused reaction as to what was going on in Florida – check out what they had to say on the next page.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login