Luton apologise as Hatters Ladies game is called off although Town declare they are 'disappointed' by 'unverified responses' to late postponement at Kenilworth Road

Luton Town have apologised to any supporters who attended yesterday’s match between the Hatters Ladies and Colney Heath Ladies at Kenilworth Road which was postponed just moments before kick-off, although the club have declared they are ‘disappointed’ by the ‘unverified responses’ over the decision to call the contest off.

With both teams ready for their Eastern Region Women's League Premier Division clash and a good crowd of around 800 in attendance, a downpour 15 minutes ahead of the game meant ground staff made the decision that the game couldn’t go ahead.

Announcing the news, the Luton Ladies Twitter account originally stated it was partly due to the fact the men were training on the pitch today ahead of their Championship trip to Stoke City on Tuesday evening, a tweet that although subsequently taken down, has led to something of a backlash against the club on social media.

Commenting on the situation this morning, an official statement from the Hatters said: “Luton Town Football Club would like to apologise to any supporter who attended Kenilworth Road yesterday for the Luton Town Ladies match against Colney Heath Ladies, which was postponed following a torrential downpour in the build-up to kick-off.

“The Football Club is currently running a full investigation into yesterday’s events, specifically into the decision to call the game off and the timing of it, which we will make public at the earliest time possible.

“However, we have been disappointed at the unverified responses from Luton Town Ladies FC, which is an independently run team under Luton Town's naming license who were invited to use our stadium yesterday, and will be holding discussions with club officials before commenting further.”

The Ladies have also released an official statement from chairman Mark Wareham and secretary Dave Baker which said: “On behalf of all the management and people who worked behind the scenes to put together the preparation for today’s game, we can only apologise to the 800+ supporters present.

"We, as well as everybody in the stands were extremely disappointed that the game was postponed as players were preparing to kick off.

"The 15 minutes downpour before kick off meant the pitch was deemed unplayable by the ground staff at Luton Town, a decision that was totally out of our hands.

"All refunds will be organised by LTFC via their ticket office.

"We are watching the social media and share the frustration of today’s comments and will be open and honest in discussions with the club.”

Meanwhile, Colney Heath themselves tweeted: “Only 4 league games into the season and we were buzzing to get our 5th ticked off as we faced top of the table Luton Town & it was going to be a good one as the club confirmed Kenilworth Road as the venue.

"LT confirmed the game was on! We made the journey, players, parents, supporters.

"The warm up was great and we were ready, we even managed to get a team photo on the fantastic Championship pitch to remember the occasion.

“For reasons we still can’t comprehend, 2 minutes to kick-off and the game was CANCELLED.

"We still can’t get our heads around what happened and send all our travelling supporters, parents and players our sincere apologies, obviously the decision was out of our hands.

"We feel for all from both teams as it wasn’t nice watching all the players return to the changing rooms to get changed and go home!

“Not a nice sight.

“The fact is, the venue was stunning, the scene was set, the crowd was buzzing but we didn’t play.”