When Football Grounds Flooded

In what has been described as an ‘unprecedented event’, a corner of the football club AFC Wimbledon’s pitch collapsed after the River Wandle burst its banks for the first time since the 1960s after southern England had over one month’s worth of rainfall in just two days.

As such, the only route for the floodwater was into the Cherry Red Record Stadium on Plough Lane, causing major pressure in that particular area of the pitch, resulting in what managing director James Woodroof described as a “natural disaster”.

It has meant that games have been moved to other grounds for the forseeable future, but most notably, the club’s Carabao Cup tie against Newcastle United has been postponed and will be played next week at St James’ Park.

Newcastle have donated £15,000 to help with the cost of repairs at Plough Lane, AFC Wimbledon’s stadium, after an unprecedented amount of flooding forced their EFL Cup tie to be postponed ?? pic.twitter.com/9OM5yOR13K

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) September 24, 2024

Because of this rearrangement, it has meant that it has affected the betting market as well. As such, all bets on the original game are void and being away from home, the odds could well change. However, cash bets will be refunded, although if you bet with free bets, they might not.

Certainly, this is not the first time that something like this has happened and, as a result, we have taken a look at other examples that illustrate this scenario.

Banbury United

In January 2024, following a similar instance of heavy rain that Storm Henk brought, Vanarama National League club Banbury United had their pitch at the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium completely submerged, due to it sitting right next to the banks of the River Cherwell, which always had a history of flooding.

It meant that a number of games were both postponed and moved with the pitch taking a few weeks to get back to normal, following heavy surgery.

Belper Town

In May 2024, Derbyshire non-league football club, Belper Town, which sits on the banks of the River Derwent and whose pitch has had a long history of flooding submitted plans for a new pitch, despite the ongoing flood risk that it would pose.

Controversially and, perhaps, much to the annoyance of many fans, the plans included for a new proposed pitch to be even closer to the river, though it was deemed necessary to meet the growing demands for women’s football.

The club released a statement at the time revealing: “It is accepted that the land has the possibility of being subjected to frequent flooding events but, as with the main pitch at the stadium, this is an acceptable situation for the club.”

Annagh United

Another instance of flooding occured in County Armagh (Northern Ireland), to football club, Annagh United after the River Bann overflowed in November 2023 causing substantial chaos to a heavy fixture schedule.

To say we are devastated would be an understatement but we are working hard to protect what we can at both our club and helping the surrounding houses. Please avoid the Annagh area as the water is deep and the road is closed. Thank you to everyone who has been in touch?? pic.twitter.com/9gH8C8qrs0

— ⚽ AUFC ⚽ (@AnnaghUnitedFC) November 1, 2023

The Portadown-based club were understood to be “devastated” at the time, with the club releasing the statement: “To say we are devastated would be an understatement but we are working hard to protect what we can at both our club and helping the surrounding houses.

“Please avoid the Annagh area as the water is deep and the road is closed. Thank you to everyone who has been in touch.”

Baffins Milton Rovers

In what was a slightly more unusual situation, Portsmouth-based football club Baffins Milton Rovers saw their pitch flooded in 2023 when a nearby water pipe burst, causing considerable havoc to the football club and the surrounding area.

Club chairman, Steve Cripps revealed: “You’ve never seen water like it. A torrent of water flooded the sailing centre, our football stadium and out onto Eastern Road. We were about 600-700 milimeters deep at one point.”