Police Wouldn't Let Us Switch The Match Says Chester Chairman

Chester's chairman insists the club tried to switch all three of their postponed fixtures, but in the case of the game against Hereford, West Mercia police wouldn't let them.

Speaking to the Chester Chronicle, the Blues chairman said that the league have been understanding with the issues the club have been facing since a storm caused extensive damage to critical areas of the Deva Stadium - resulting in four Vanarama National League North games being postponed.

Water leaked into the control room and PA room which CCTV and PA systems to fail, without which the club can't host games as there's not a valid safety certificate in place.

"We don't want postponements and neither do the League," said Harrington-Wright.

"For various reasons we have not been able to switch the games. We tried with Kidderminster, FC United and also with Hereford.

"The Hereford game would have been all ticket and there would have been a logistical issue with turning that around. But West Mercia Police wouldn't entertain us switching the clash on Monday, and that is the fact of the matter. There is little you can do about that.

"The National League have been with us and understand the issues we are facing so there are no issues in that respect."

Harrington-Wright said that they will know today whether a new CCTV system is needed - if so, this will be a complex job, but one which he's confident will be resolved in time for their next home game.

"I can't tell you 100% that we will get that game on but that is what we are working towards," Harrington-Wright added.

"There is a youth team game here on the fifth and we would ideally like to have the repairs and the new equipment in place by then so that we can use that game as a dummy run and test all the equipment appropriately.

"But we are bound by other things. We will know today whether or not the CCTV system is a write off and if we need new kit. If we do then that is something that can't just be bought off the shelf, it is something that has to be custom made and then installed. It's not a small job.

"I can assure everybody that we are working as hard as possible to sort this situation out as quickly as possible and postponing games is not something that we or the National League take lightly."

The full interview can be read here.