List Bizarre/unusual reasons for cancelled/suspended/abandoned games

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GrahamClayton

GrahamClayton

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Feb 1, 2015
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Geelong
I would be interested to read about some of the more unusual and bizarre reasons for the abandonment/cancellation/suspension of games. I presume that in lower and country leagues there would be some very unusual reasons.
 
GrahamClayton said:
I would be interested to read about some of the more unusual and bizarre reasons for the abandonment/cancellation/suspension of games. I presume that in lower and country leagues there would be some very unusual reasons.
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Here's a recent one to start things off!:- http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-25/gippsland-football-match-abandoned-players-hypothermia/7657216

Sub-zero conditions forced a Gippsland football match to be abandoned at the weekend, after four players were forced from the field with hypothermia.
The North Gippsland Football League match between Yarram and Traralgon Tyers United (TTU) in Victoria, hosted by Yarram, was abandoned during the third quarter. AFL Gippsland general manager Travis Switzer said he could not recall another senior match being called off due to inclement weather.
 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/af...-Sunbury-Lions-multiple-injuries-players.html

A women's Australian rules football game abandoned in the third quarter because of violent play which left at least nine players with serous injuries is under investigation by the AFL. The match between the South Morang Lions and the Sunbury Lions was called to a premature halt by South Morang coach Maurice Baldasso after a number of players were injured and 'the umpires had lost control' according to the Star Weekly. Nine women suffered serious injuries including broken bones and concussion in the match played in South Morang, in Melbourne's northern suburbs.
 

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I read once that VFA club Melbourne City, infamous for not winning a game during its short-lived tenure in 1912-1913, once forfeited a game at half time due to inclement weather, but I don't know the opponent.

In Round 3 1988, the wet weather conditions on the Gold Coast saw the match between the Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles at Carrara moved to the WACA ground in Perth, with the Bears hosting the Eagles! Unfortunately for the Bears the Eagles proved impolite guests, kicking a massive 29.18-192 (still West Coast's highest score) on a hot afternoon to crush the Queenslanders by 118-points. The teams met again later in the year at the WACA, this time an Eagles home game played at night and the match was a thriller, West Coast narrowly beating Brisbane by 9 points.
 
emuboy said:
I read once that VFA club Melbourne City, infamous for not winning a game during its short-lived tenure in 1912-1913, once forfeited a game at half time due to inclement weather, but I don't know the opponent.
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Brighton was the opponent. They led 5.11 (41) to Melbourne City 2.2 (14) in the 1913 Rd. 6 clash:- http://www.thegapchessclub.org.au/vfa/ww/1913.htm

* MATCH ABANDONED 1/2 TIME
MELBOURNE CITY RETIRED ON ACCOUNT OF BAD CONDITIONS
MATCH AWARDED TO BRIGHTON
 
VFA Sept.3, 1898 - Port Melbourne v Richmond

Richmond entered halftime furious at the tactics of Port's players (among the incidents, one had been punched in the face and the captain had also been kicked).

11 Richmond players refused to return after the break so the remaining 7 took the field against Port's 18.

Surprisingly, they still managed a goal, the score for the quarter being 9.9 to 1.0.

Not surprisingly, the magnificent seven called it quits at 3/4 time and the game ended there with Port winning 14.10 to 4.0

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article192581955
 
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In the Diamond Valley League in round 15, 1967, (July 29) the game between Heidelberg and Greensborough was not played when the V. F. L. Reserves Umpires’ Board placed a boycott on Heidelberg competing in the league until one of the team’s players, reported in their Round 13 game against Eltham, was dealt with by the Diamond Valley Football League tribunal. This saw Greensborough receive the four match points to thus hold their top position on the ladder, with the other games in the DVFL going ahead as scheduled. A meeting of the Heidelberg committee on July 30 resulted in the reported player having to front the tribunal on August 2.
 
Ferny Creek v Emerald, 11 June 1921
The Emerald team chartered a special train and a special charabanc (motor-coach) in order to make the difficult journey to the Ferny Creek ground for this fixture. Unfortunately, the train ran late, the charabanc didn’t arrive in time, and Emerald was 25 minutes late in reaching the ground, only to find that Ferny Creek had gone through the motions of bouncing the ball and claiming the match in Emerald’s absence. To compound their disappointment, the charabanc broke down on the return journey, leaving the Emerald players to ‘pad the hoof’ to the nearest railway station. This incident caused much bitterness between the two clubs.

Lilydale v Healesville (second semi final), 13 September 1924
Healesville became the only club in the district to ever forfeit a finals match when it refused to play this fixture. The Yarra Valley F.A. had moved the game from the flooded Yarra Glen ground to Wandin. Healesville objected on the grounds that it hadn’t been notified, it hadn’t been consulted, and the Wandin ground was in equally poor condition. Neither party was prepared to compromise, so Healesville’s season ended when it failed to arrive at Wandin for the match.

Yarra Junction v Marysville, 21 July 1951
This match was abandoned because Marysville was snowed under and the team could not travel.

Marysville v Yarraburn, 25 August, 1956
This final round match was called off because the Marysville ground was covered in 3 to 4 inches of snow. Neither club minded too much - they were both out of the running for a finals place.

Belgrave v Ferntree Gully, 13 August 1960
Trailing 14.30 (114) to 5.0 (30) at three-quarter time, Belgrave took the unprecedented action of ‘throwing in the towel’. The match was played in ‘impossible conditions’ at the Belgrave ground.

Olinda-Ferny Creek v South Belgrave, 8 July 1961
South’s four imported players failed to turn up for this match, leaving them with only 15 men to take the field. The match was played in thick fog, with the correspondent noting that, although he was standing at the boundary fence, only five players could be seen. South lost two more players due to injury in the first half, and considering that it would be ridiculous to continue, asked Olinda to accept a forfeit. Olinda was leading at the time, 4.3 to 0.3

Wandin v Belgrave, 22 August 1987
Belgrave declined to play this match at Wandin due to the rough condition of the Wandin ground. Wandin was declared the winners by forfeit.

Belgrave v Silvan, 27 July 1991
This match was not played due to the state of the Belgrave ground. In this wet winter, the Belgrave ground was in particularly bad shape. Belgrave’s next home match (against Kinglake) was abandoned at half time.

Gembrook-Cockatoo v Upwey-Tecoma, 10 June 2006
A thick fog descended on the Gembrook ground midway through the second quarter of this match. Play continued until half time, whereupon the match was abandoned with Upwey leading 10.7 to 4.8. Upwey was declared the winner.

Kinglake v Alexandra, 5 June 2010
Although the reserves game was completed, heavy fog prevented the commencement of the senior match.

Kinglake v Seville, 10 July 2010
This match was called off by the umpires after players persisted in fighting.
 
There's been a few in Tasmania down the years, obviously there's the infamous Goal Post Final between Wynyard and North Hobart in the 1967 Tasmanian State Premiership decider at West Park in Burnie when North Hobart's David Collins marked 15m out at the Cooee end with seconds to go, a goal would've won North Hobart the State Premiership, only that the Wynyard supporters all jumped the fence and ripped the posts out of the ground and caused the match to be abandoned and never replayed.

A TFL Statewide League match between Glenorchy and the Burnie Hawks was abandoned at the 22 minute mark of the final quarter at Glenorchy's KGV Oval in 1993 when Burnie Hawks' rugged defender Dale Whish-Wilson, earlier sent off for misconduct when he threw the ball at boundary umpire Peter Walker's head, had slipped back out onto the ground after another Burnie Hawks player had gone off injured and they had no one left on the bench.
After being spotted by the central umpire Garry Dawson, Whish-Wilson was ordered to leave the field several times and could be seen to mouth the words "No *en way!" at the umpire on the live ABC broadcast, after refusing to leave the field, the umpires promptly walked off the field and abandoned the match which led to fights breaking out between spectators and spilling out into the streets outside KGV.
At a meeting during the week, the TFL ruled that the scores at the time of abandonment would stand (Glenorchy were in front) and for his part, Whish-Wilson copped a ten match suspension.
 
killer said:
St Marys v Wanderers last night
Wanderers ran out of players
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It happened to us once in 2007 up here. Playing against BITS Saints we started the Senior match with 18 players, 15 of whom had played Reserve Grade and another had played Under 17's during the day (we would have had 19 but one player broke his arm in the 2s). By 3/4 time we had 11 fit players on the ground and our president at the time (one of the 15 who played Reserves) persuaded the umpire about 2 minutes into the last quarter to call it off.

Later that year we didn't abandon another game but we had 16 in the seniors (14 doubled up) to play Yeppoon (history repeated itself last year, but that was by choice rather than by what we had), and some random guy who is actually posting this story got carted off on a stretcher having cramped up in the 3rd quarter. It was a long 20 minutes having to wait until I was able to go back on.....
 

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Kingpin said:
There's been a few in Tasmania down the years, obviously there's the infamous Goal Post Final between Wynyard and North Hobart in the 1967 Tasmanian State Premiership decider at West Park in Burnie when North Hobart's David Collins marked 15m out at the Cooee end with seconds to go, a goal would've won North Hobart the State Premiership, only that the Wynyard supporters all jumped the fence and ripped the posts out of the ground and caused the match to be abandoned and never replayed.

A TFL Statewide League match between Glenorchy and the Burnie Hawks was abandoned at the 22 minute mark of the final quarter at Glenorchy's KGV Oval in 1993 when Burnie Hawks' rugged defender Dale Whish-Wilson, earlier sent off for misconduct when he threw the ball at boundary umpire Peter Walker's head, had slipped back out onto the ground after another Burnie Hawks player had gone off injured and they had no one left on the bench.
After being spotted by the central umpire Garry Dawson, Whish-Wilson was ordered to leave the field several times and could be seen to mouth the words "No ****en way!" at the umpire on the live ABC broadcast, after refusing to leave the field, the umpires promptly walked off the field and abandoned the match which led to fights breaking out between spectators and spilling out into the streets outside KGV.
At a meeting during the week, the TFL ruled that the scores at the time of abandonment would stand (Glenorchy were in front) and for his part, Whish-Wilson copped a ten match suspension.
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I remember the 1993 game when it happened - it made news right around the country.

The year 1993 seems to have been a bit of a strange one for odd things happening at grounds. A pig was released onto the SCG for a Swans vs. Saints match, a blue heeler dog ran onto the East Fremantle ground at a WAFL game and the 1993 VFA Grand Final between Werribee and Port Melbourne ended in a total debacle, when the crowd attending the ill-tempered game thought the Princes Park siren had sounded early and surged onto the ground, fights breaking out all over the place.
 
emuboy said:
I remember the 1993 game when it happened - it made news right around the country.

The year 1993 seems to have been a bit of a strange one for odd things happening at grounds. A pig was released onto the SCG for a Swans vs. Saints match, a blue heeler dog ran onto the East Fremantle ground at a WAFL game and the 1993 VFA Grand Final between Werribee and Port Melbourne ended in a total debacle, when the crowd attending the ill-tempered game thought the Princes Park siren had sounded early and surged onto the ground, fights breaking out all over the place.
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Yes Whish-Wilson had a bad reputation in the TFL as it was after numerous incidents over the years, specifically when he was charged by Devonport CIB over his assault on North Hobart's Mark McQueen (who later went on to play with Richmond) when he dropped McQueen 70m behind play in an Elimination Final at Devonport in 1988.
Wish I had the '93 game on tape still, I remember the fights breaking out in the stands after the game was called off and on the ABC Radio broadcast the commentators were talking about spectators punching on in Anfield Street outside lol. Huge news at the time.
That 1993 VFA Grand Final ending is on Youtube somewhere.
Jack Aziz got punched by someone and the fans were all over the field getting involved in the melee, crowd were still on the ground when the umpire got the game restarted and they blew the siren before anyone got hit.
 

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Kingpin said:
Yes Whish-Wilson had a bad reputation in the TFL as it was after numerous incidents over the years, specifically when he was charged by Devonport CIB over his assault on North Hobart's Mark McQueen (who later went on to play with Richmond) when he dropped McQueen 70m behind play in an Elimination Final at Devonport in 1988.
Wish I had the '93 game on tape still, I remember the fights breaking out in the stands after the game was called off and on the ABC Radio broadcast the commentators were talking about spectators punching on in Anfield Street outside lol. Huge news at the time.
That 1993 VFA Grand Final ending is on Youtube somewhere.
Jack Aziz got punched by someone and the fans were all over the field getting involved in the melee, crowd were still on the ground when the umpire got the game restarted and they blew the siren before anyone got hit.
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Sub-zero conditions forced a Heytesbury match to be abandoned at the halftime, after the boy running the boundary was suffering from hypothermia at halftime. The year was 1973 and the teams were Simpson and Nirranda South.

Gale force wings blew across the ground. The play was a stalemate on the outer wing.
The scores at half time was 0.0 to 0.0.
 
South West District FL approx. 2007.

Tyrendarra vs Heathmere was called off because of threat of bushfire. Tyrendarra kicked 1.3.9 to Heathmere 1.0.6.

The CFA ordered an evacuation after twenty minutes into the first quarter.
 
Todman said:
Sub-zero conditions forced a Heytesbury match to be abandoned at the halftime, after the boy running the boundary was suffering from hypothermia at halftime. The year was 1973 and the teams were Simpson and Nirranda South.

Gale force wings blew across the ground. The play was a stalemate on the outer wing.
The scores at half time was 0.0 to 0.0.
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Sound a lot like a Tasmanian State League game between Hobart and Lauderdale at the TCA Ground in 2009 when horrific winds smashed the TCA. The stands were creaking and groaning, flagpole atop the Hobart changerooms almost snapped in half, timekeeper's box alnost blew over, spectators were huddled in under the stands and the play was almost solely on the outer wing with virtually continuous throw-ins on that wing. Boundary umpires would throw it back in and the ball would get blown straight back over their heads and they were almost about to kick the ball back into play!
At half time Lauderdale led 1.2 (8) to 0.1 (1) and match managers spoke to both clubs at the break about whether to call the game off.
Fifteen minutes into the third quarter and niether side had scored, winds were continuing to scream across the field, the buildings were all banging and clattering, shaking and squeaking.
Then all of a sudden - silence - it was eerie.
The wind completely stopped and Hobart went beserk and kicked seven straight behinds, Lauderdale managed to score themselves and late in the final quarter Hobart led 2.10 (22) to 2.7 (19) when Lauderdale scored a freak goal to hit the front by 3 points and then they were awarded a free kick in front with five seconds remaining and goaled after the siren to win 4.7 (31) to 2.10 (22)!
The Under 15s game played under lights at the ground that night was higher scoring than the senior game that day too.
 
The division 3 Southern FL grand final was called off and no premiership was awarded in 2014 after a fight between players and spectators at half time.

Police were called to the Ross Street Reserve in Heatherton about 3.30pm on Saturday, where Mount Waverley was taking on Carrum Patterson Lakes in the Southern Football League division-three seniors grand final.

A police spokeswoman said supporters started heckling one of the teams as it left the ground at half-time. "A fight broke out between the players and the supporters, involving up to 20 people," she said.

One person was taken to hospital with minor injuries sustained in the brawl and the game was called off when one of the teams refused to return to the field, the spokeswoman said.

Fairfax Media has been told the free-for-all started when three Mount Waverley supporters began abusing Carrum Patterson Lakes players as they left the field.

A spectator, who asked not to be named, said one player was "king-hit" from behind and that some supporters forced their way into the club's change rooms where the stoush continued.
 
Round 14, 2015 of the AFL surely trumps all of these.

I think with the news saturation and the fact we all know about it means we forget how unusual a reason for cancelling a game that was. Not in over 100 years of competition did the league cancel and not reschedule a game (I think).

In the future when someone reads this thread, or first notices the anomaly in the 2015 AFL ladder; they'd never guess the reason was the senior coach was stabbed to death by his son earlier in the week.

Tragically surreal.
 
kickazz said:
Round 14, 2015 of the AFL surely trumps all of these.

I think with the news saturation and the fact we all know about it means we forget how unusual a reason for cancelling a game that was. Not in over 100 years of competition did the league cancel and not reschedule a game (I think).

In the future when someone reads this thread, or first notices the anomaly in the 2015 AFL ladder; they'd never guess the reason was the senior coach was stabbed to death by his son earlier in the week.

Tragically surreal.
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if it had happened during the finals series, it probably would have meant to postpone the upcoming week's finals and push the rest of the schedule back a week, a la 1990
 
emuboy said:
In Round 3 1988, the wet weather conditions on the Gold Coast saw the match between the Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles at Carrara moved to the WACA ground in Perth, with the Bears hosting the Eagles! Unfortunately for the Bears the Eagles proved impolite guests, kicking a massive 29.18-192 (still West Coast's highest score) on a hot afternoon to crush the Queenslanders by 118-points.
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doesn't sound like there was a hell of a lot of notice regarding the change of venue... South East Queensland to Perth is still the longest trip in footy after all
 
My father coached Kaniva, in the Tatiara League, way back in the '50s.

They were playing an intra-club practice match one year, and got notice just on 3/4 time that the local hospital, which was nearby, was on fire.

All players rushed across to help put it out, and that took about 45 minutes, according to Dad.

When order had been restored, they went back and played out the last quarter!
 
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