Cullen Explains Postponement of Portsmouth-Millwall Match as ‘Only Logical Decision’

Portsmouth’s chief executive officer, Andrew Cullen, confirmed that Wednesday’s Championship fixture against Millwall was postponed due to a power outage at Fratton Park, approximately 55 minutes after its scheduled kick-off. Cullen stated that the club had no alternative but to call off the game. Speaking to BBC Radio Solent, Cullen explained, “We got to a point where the floodlights were back on but there was still an issue with non-emergency lighting and CCTV so we had a decision to make in terms of crowd safety.” He further elaborated on the situation, stating, “There’s more to this than just 22 players on the football pitch. We had a capacity crowd here tonight and we did not have confidence that we could get through a whole game with some lighting not working in the stands.” Cullen also cited travel concerns for visiting fans, adding, “Then we got to 8:30 and then we had a further problem which was the last trains going back to London for the Millwall supporters, and they would not have been able to get those back so a decision had to be made.” Concluding his remarks, Cullen expressed his regret but affirmed the necessity of the decision: “I’m incredibly disappointed and I’m upset that we had to call the game off but it was the only logical decision at that time to do in the interests of everyone’s safety.”