BURTON and Bournemouth’s Carabao Cup clash has been abandoned after the floodlights went out THREE times at the Pirelli Stadium.
The Brewers immediately stated that the clash had been abandoned, before quickly following up their tweet saying the referee has not called the game off.
Gutted fans had left the stadium only to be told to head back when the game was restarted in farcical scenes.
An incredible 28 minutes of added time was called and the Brewers doubled their advantage soon later.
The first incident happened in the 53rd minute after the pitch was plunged into darkness with the hosts leading their Premier League opponents 1-0.
After a brief stoppage in play, both teams eventually returned to the pitch, but after just two minutes the floodlights once again went off in the 63rd minute.
Bournemouth took to Twitter to talk about the incident, as they said: “The floodlights lasted two minutes… They’re out again…”
While Burton quipped: “Erm. They’ve gone again….”
Play eventually resumed eight minutes later, with the Cherries joking that there should be enough injury time for them to get back in the game.
They tweeted: “Right, they’re on again… Hopefully they last and we can find a way back into it!
“Could be some record stoppage time here!”
But after just five minutes of playing time, once again the stadium fell into darkness.
In a series of tweets, Burton stated: “MATCH ABANDONED. The lights have unfortunately gone a third time and the referee has called the game. We were 1-0 up and good value and now the match will have to be replayed.”
Before adding: “STAY IN YOUR SEATS. The referee appeared to blow the final whistle but we’re hearing the match may NOT have been abandoned just yet…”
And finally: “Right. It looks like we’re going again!!!!!!!! We should emphasise – this is an issue affecting Stretton and the local area, not just Burton Albion. We apologise for events beyond our control.”
Bournemouth’s confused admin simply stated: “Right, after much deliberation on whether it had been abandoned or not, we are UNDERWAY AGAIN. Hopefully they can stay on as this game is at risk of being abandoned. We have no idea what minute it is.”
More to follow…
