Following the abandonment of our Sports Direct Premiership fixture against Cliftonville on Tuesday evening at Shamrock Park, Portadown Football Club wish to detail what occurred in relation to the floodlight failure as well as what action has been taken to resolve the issue.
May we begin however by acknowledging the inconvenience caused to everyone in attendance on Tuesday evening. We appreciate the time, money and effort put in to following your football club up and down the country, especially in midweek, and for that to be all in vain is highly frustrating and disappointing for everyone involved.
The floodlight failure on Tuesday evening was caused by an issue with the pump which left the generator air-locked meaning it shut off, we did have multiple people trying to repair it on the night but it needed a part replaced. This issue could not be foreseen, the floodlights have been in operation several times since Boxing Day with no issues whatsoever including games against Annagh United, Dungannon Swifts and Larne as well as several reserve games and had a full service in December as well as a follow up check in the aftermath of the Boxing Day fixture.
An engineer was on site from 9am yesterday morning testing and determining what the issue was, with a problem with the pump being confirmed. The pump has been replaced with the floodlights now in full working order but they will continue to be tested rigorously over the next few days ahead of Saturday’s tea-time kick off against Dungannon Swifts with a engineer also on site for Saturdays game, however no problems are anticipated.
The club would also like to clarify that contrary to reports Tuesday evenings floodlight failure was caused by a completely separate and different problem to what occurred on Boxing Day. The issue that day was again unforeseen and was the result of an oil filter problem, this was able to be fixed on the day with an engineer carrying out further checks and tests in the aftermath of that.
The club have been in constant contact with NIFL regarding the situation with a new date for the game along with details around admission being confirmed in due course.
We again thank supporters for their patience and apologise once again for the inconvenience caused on Tuesday evening.