Wigan Athletic plans fall foul of weather

The playing surface at the stadium was relatively unaffected by the torrential rain, but the decision was made on safety grounds to protect the thousands of supporters who would have had a challenging commute.

"Our New Year's Day clash against Huddersfield Town has been postponed due to severe localised flooding," read a Latics statement. "Heavy rainfall over Tuesday night has made roads treacherous in the area, although the playing surface at the Brick Community Stadium was deemed playable.

"However, safety concerns regarding the public areas surrounding the ground and the strain on local emergency services dealing with several major incidents, which have been affected by severe flooding, led to the league fixture being called off.

"Access to the area is severely restricted with many access routes closed due to flooding, and the emergency services are unable to provide resources to support the matchday operation.

"The news is naturally disappointing as Shaun Maloney and his players were looking forward to the highly-anticipated New Year's Day fixture, but the safety of both sets of supporters is of paramount importance.

"An update on the fixture rearrangement will be announced in due course. All tickets from the New Year's Day clash will remain valid for the rearranged game."

Latics - who have already seen THREE of their Saturday 3pm home league games this season moved due to international commitments - are left to count the cost of seeing another plum fixture move to midweek.