We should have known it would be a bad day when our 49 seater coach carried about 65 passengers. Some City fans needed a lift to Coldra but their connection forgot to wait and we then had to take them to Strensham Services on the M5.
We should have known it would be a bad day when our drivers to go to Peterboro via the M4/M25. Not wise anytime but especially when over half a million anti-war protestors were descending on London, even worse when we had a pick up at Ross. We forced them up the M5 instead after crossing the Severn Bridge.
But all seemed fine after that. A very cold, clear night and frosty start to the day (overnight temperatures were -4 to -6) but it was quickly clear, blue sunny skies with the temperature above freezing by breakfast and getting warmer. Our drivers atoned too, making up for lost time on the coach by going better than Sandra Bullock in Speed!
Then the sickener. A mobile phone call proclaiming the game was postponed just as we were driving into Peterborough after a 200 mile drive. Some garbled comment about part of the pitch being iced under a "new stand". We thought it was a joke, it never entered anyone's mind that the game was in the slightest danger, sadly it was true.
In a lifetime of following City away, I can only 4 matches that have been postponed with large support en route. There will undoubtedly be more but the point is, it's a rarity. Yet diehard Bluebird away fans have suffered it 3 times in 5 weeks and 1,000 miles of wasted journeys to get halfway to Northampton, all the way to Port Vale and, now, London Road, Peterborough. That's too much for anyone to stomach, everyone feels sorry for us, nobody does anything for us.
So our coachload decided we would go to London Road, find out what the hell was going on for ourselves and make our points known to as many people as possible.
As we got off the coach, it was nearly t-shirt weather in the sun. The temperature was apparently 10 degrees. Our first encounter was with George Wood and Ian Butterworth standing outside the ground by the team coach, nobody else was around.
A delegation of 8 or so "then" took Peterborough's ground - myself, "Stormin' Norm, Scouser, Hicksie, Eddie (?) and a couple of others. We walked through main reception and demanded to be allowed on the pitch.
The receptionist panicked, pressed an entry button and doors opened. She knew she shouldn't have done that but whilst she tried to stop us, we were in and nothing would stop us. A short corridor lead to the players tunnel and then the playing surface. Looking back on it now, it was funny.
The pitch was lush and green and soft 80% of the way across, you could not have expected better. The "new stand" is a pitch length double-decker stand opposite the tunnel built nearly 10 years ago - that new eh! In other words, they would have known full well it can cause problems with winter icing and they should have a duty of care.
Under its shadow, the pitch was undoubtedly harder, you felt the difference immediately but it wasn't "rock solid" nor did it crunch. There were sporadic visible sights of frost on the top, not much but a contrast.
OK, we all had trainers or shoes on but whilst it was tricky, to deem it dangerous is probably going too far. None of us had the slightest doubt play could have taken place, one or two had played at a reasonable level and believe it could have started. Many who play local football probably encounter worse most weekends. It was tough but definitely not solid, that's what we expected for the game to be postponed.
Peterborough officials had now joined us and there were heated exchanges (not heated enough to de-ice the pitch!). Their sole justification was that a local referee had passed it ok on Friday afternoon. That obviously puts them in the clear then!
Posh knew the stand was a potential problem, they knew what the overnight conditions would be but made no attempt whatsoever to protect or cover the pitch. To say they didn't expect the overnight frost which was broadcast is an insult to us. Even so, they compounded it all by never giving a single hint on the day about problems, even going to the extent of telling City fans calling in that there were no problems at all.
Peterborough United Football Club, let there be no mistake, are guilty of gross incompetence for failing to protect their surface and negligence towards City's 1,000 to 1,500 travelling supporters.
P.U.F.C. then told us that the referee decided to postpone the match, Cardiff and Peterborough both wanted to play. We demanded to see the officials to justify things to us and stormed back in the "inner sanctum". Referees must be accountable and responsible to us even though they seem to think otherwise sometimes.
We found them, all track-suited, none would speak to us. I later discovered the ref was Eddie Wolstenholme, the Premier League official. They got stewards to keep them away and then "did a runner", scarpering away from the ground as quickly as they could.
Next up we went looking for Barry Fry and found him back outside. It was like a scene from Footballers Wives with Fry, getting in his flash car with a flash number plate wearing a flash suit spoke to us but only wanted to moan about his club losing £20,000 minimum because it was off and most City fans wouldn't be back midweek.
As we were pressing, tv cameras and journalists (including a Cardiff City reporter from Poland - who was he and what was that about?), Fry became evasive when we asked if Lennie wanted it cancelled. Then he decided to show his public image by turning on the charm and cracking some joke comments that made no sense but got enough laughing to let him off the hook. He's a showman - thanks Barry!
Back inside, stewards now talking to us in the directors box while we still complained, all you could see was sun, all you could feel was warmth and all could sense was a waste of a day in which the conditions should have been perfect for a football match. It is a disgrace that it didn't happen.
I didn't see Lennie but there are reports that he cold shouldered some other fans on our coach who tried to speak with him.
The incompetence of Peterborough was apparent again when, almost an hour after the game was off, the home players started arriving to play, not one of them had been contacted by their club. Mark Tyler, their keeper, thought we were joking when we broke the news to him. Nice girlfriend Mark! He looked as gutted as we were but at least he could spend the afternoon with his girl.
And that was it. The day itself was still a cracker.
We found a pub and settled down for a couple of hours singing and laughs. The landladies daughter beat me twice downing pints, the locals and Posh fans subject to loads of Australian - "Everyone, Do The Kanga"(roo) accompanied by bouncing about like Skippy will catch on.
We didn't get back til 9pm, singing very loudly and drunkenly all the way home. We made the most of it, had a cracking day and it turned out to be one of the more eventful and memorable awaydays I've had in ages but mostly for the wrong reasons.
The game could, we believe, should, have been played. If it was in danger, we could have been warned so our journeys could have been curtailed or delayed (it's like a badly scratched record making all these points after yet another postponed match). It could have been put back until today when conditions are far better. Most of all, football clubs must be made to act responsibly and, if needs be, fined and punished for ineptitude like this.
Isn't it time the football authorities looked into this? If this happened to a Premier League side, many of whom have smaller travelling support than City, I suspect we wouldn't hear the last of it.
Peterborough failing to cover their pitch, show the barest consideration for travelling fans is, quite simply, a disgrace.
As I said before, just watch how they will now all tell us how they feel sorry for us but will anyone do anything? Quite simply, No.