Alfreton Town's big FA Cup tie with Walsall is postponed just before kick-off

Despite the pitch having been covered all week at the Impact Arena due to freezing temperatures, when the surface was exposed on Saturday morning ahead of the player warm-ups, the goalmouths in particular remained too hard to play on.

The match officials waited as long as possible to see if there would be any improvement, but with temperatures remaining below freezing, the decision was made at around 12.20 to call the game off, with a sell-out crowd having already arrived at the game and BBC TV coverage having begun.

No new date has yet been confirmed as to when the fixture will now take place, although it does mean that Alfreton will be in the hat for the third round draw where they could be paired with a Premier League or Championship, subject to beating Walsall.

Walsall manager Mat Sadler told BBC One: "As soon as I walked out here I thought the game would be off. It's rock-hard and not getting any warmer.

"I know they left it as late as possible to see if it could be played, but it looked dangerous to me.

"I think common sense has prevailed on that one. The game was never going to be played as soon as the covers came off, the goal mouths were rock hard.

"It’s the right decision to have been called off."