The cost to the St Johnstone coffers of a succession of postponed Saturday home matches the latest of which was Saturday’s match against Aberdeen is now at £100,000 and counting.
Saints chairman Geoff Brown insists money will be thrown at the troubled McDiarmid Park pitch to transform it over the summer, but the Perth club have dismissed claims they were caught out by rain that washed away hopes of their weekend fixture going ahead.
Suggestions that special covers brought in to protect the surface had been left rolled up pitch-side have also been scotched.
Saints mapped out the background to another call-off in detail, seven days after their Scottish Cup clash with Partick Thistle was postponed.
A spokesman said, “Having discovered a drainage problem deep under the pitch during the very wet late autumn, the club carried out what repairs and remedial actions were feasible mid-season and in addition invested a substantial sum on the purchase of protective rain covers.
“Supporters will be aware that the pitch has been very heavy in recent weeks and with prolonged rain forecast from Friday afternoon the rain covers were in place in plenty of time.”
He added, “With the pitch already at full water retention capacity, 16 hours of continuous rain ran off the protective covers, as anticipated.
“Nevertheless, it appears to have resulted in a weight on top of the covers, which has had the effect of pushing underground water back up to the surface something akin to standing on a wet sponge.”Saints’ apologyThe spokesman said, “Although the covers were removed promptly in the morning, and work immediately carried out to drain the pitch, the referee deemed (it) unplayable.
“Having taken every possible precaution to get the game on, everyone at the club is hugely disappointed at the outcome and would wish to apologise for the disappointment caused by this postponement.”
Brown, who summoned turf specialists to return to McDiarmid on Monday, said, “It was unbelievably disappointing and I can only apologise to the fans of both clubs.
“Saturday was a perfect day for football, but the referee had no choice but to call it off.”
He added, “A lot of work was done to get Wednesday’s game against Thistle on and it was the same before Saturday, but we had another postponement and it’s costing us a fortune.
“We’ve lost a six-figure sum because of call-offs but this won’t happen next season. Something has to be done, but we can only tackle the root cause in the summer.”
Brown said the re-arranged date would be down to the SPL but felt it would be next month before the game was played.