THE Government last night added to the avalanche of condemnation over the treatment of football supporters who ploughed hundreds of fruitless miles through the snow on Wednesday. Richard Caborn, the Minister for Sport, said that he was appalled at the fate suffered by Charlton Athletic fans, claiming it “beggars belief” that they were allowed to journey to the North East for the Barclays Premiership match away to Newcastle United only for it to be postponed 25 minutes before the scheduled start.

A total of 17 matches were called off in the Premiership and Coca-Cola Championship, several of them too late to prevent supporters making wasted trips across the country. Frozen pitches were the main problem, but the match at St James’ Park was postponed because of safety fears for fans in the icy precincts of the stadium and on the roads nearby. Caborn said that the decision was taken unnecessarily late.

“When you are looking at a situation like Newcastle and some fans have already travelled 300 miles for a game that does not take place, that cannot be good,” he said. “The weather forecast had been clear. I think they should have anticipated the problems and taken into account the travelling fans. It beggars belief that they can go all that way, be on the doorstep of St James’ Park, and the game is called off. If there is any possibility of a game being postponed, they should consider the supporters.

“Clubs of course want to play the matches if at all possible but they should not leave it to the last minute because it is so unfair on the fans. It is expensive enough to get into a Premiership football match anyway and if fans have their money wasted on travelling expenses as well, then they simply will not be able to afford it.”

The many late call-offs on Wednesday included the Premiership matches between Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough at the Reebok Stadium and Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland at Ewood Park, both after the undersoil heating systems failed to ward off the frost. Caborn said that both cases were unacceptable and he is to ask the Football Association and the FA Premier League to review the rules for the timing of postponements.

The chaos at Newcastle has also brought to the surface anger over the scheduling of matches requiring long journeys on a midweek night during a period in midwinter when most clubs are playing four times in eight days.

Caborn reflected the general mood, saying that the fixture arrangements should be examined “partly because of the possibility of bad weather but particularly because of the shortage of transport arrangements over the holiday period. Most fans would like to have as many local games as possible in this period. I think more could be done in this direction.”

Freddy Shepherd, the Newcastle chairman, sympathised with supporters and is annoyed that his team have to play away to Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow, cutting short New Year’s Eve celebrations for fans who are travelling back to the North East. “The situation was taken out of our hands by the police and the Health and Safety people,” he said. “The Charlton supporters have travelled 600 miles and you have to feel especially sorry for them.

“Everybody knows that the fixtures are churned out by a computer but it’s time we looked at this. Our supporters have had to travel to Liverpool on Boxing Day and now to London on New Year’s Eve and surely that cannot be right.”