Kettering boss McDonald disappointed as 50th anniversary celebrations are washed out
Poppies boss Liam McDonald was left disappointed his side were unable to 'put on a show' after several pitch inspections resulted in Kettering's match against Alvechurch on Saturday finally being called off at 3:02pm.
A deluge at Latimer Park early on Saturday morning left standing water on the surface, but no inspection was carried out until match day referee Simon Kavanagh arrived at the ground.
Understandably, Kettering officials were keen for the match to go ahead with a bumper crowd expected and a hospitality suite already full of former club legends to celebrate arguably the club's most famous moment in history.
That came back in 1976 when Derek Dougan's Poppies side wore on-shirt advertising in a match, becoming the first club in England to do so, and Kettering's players were due to wear replica shirts of that famous ‘Kettering Tyres’ shirt against Alvechurch.
But despite three inspections and even pushing kick-off back by half an hour, a small area of the field remained unplayable, and hands were shook between officials and two visibly annoyed managers.
Speaking shortly after the match was called off, McDonald said: "Both teams wanted to play. To be fair to the ref, he did give it more time and not much had changed really.
"It was obviously a great event, so I know there's a lot of disappointed people - we tried to give it every opportunity.
"We did feel possibly giving it a bit more time or just going ahead with the match as it was – it was only in the far corner where the ball wasn't really running."
The importance of the day wasn't lost on McDonald, who himself played 19 games for Kettering while Poppies legend Roger Ashby was assistant manager.
Ashby was just one of a number of players who originally wore the famous ‘Kettering Tyres’ shirt back in 1976 waiting in the clubhouse to celebrate the occasion.
"There are so many legends up there - so many people who have played the game," said McDonald. "I wanted the boys to go out and put on a show.
"As a manager you get a feeling within a group and on a certain day and I just felt we were ready to go out and play, and I love playing at home.
"We've been unbeaten since we've come in and the fans have been really good.”
Fans were left frustrated by the lack of communication throughout the day, with many having travelled from around the country to be part of the day.
Supporter Phil Lee, along with his son Jesse and friend Markus, had driven from Norwich to attend the match.
"The three of us are gutted of course but we've tried to make the most of the day," said Lee.
"We'd have preferred the game to have been called off earlier so we could find another match to attend.
"We really wanted to be here today and show off our new shirts - it's brilliant that a team like Kettering played their part in what has become such an important story across not just football but all sports."