THE second Worcester Derby of the Hellenic League Premier season has been postponed following a waterlogged pitch at Claines Lane.

An inspection was carried out early on Tuesday March 5 and the officials called the game off shortly afterwards as the weather once again beat the football.

The original tie, scheduled for Boxing Day 2023, was also postponed for a waterlogged pitch and now the game will have to be moved to another date.

It is not much of an issue for Raiders, given this was their penultimate clash of the season, but it causes yet more chaos to City's fixture list. They still have 11 games left in the 2023/24 campaign, as well as all their cup clashes, to fit into the final six weeks of the league season. 

Question marks have been raised throughout the season about the Claines pitch and this latest postponement will do nothing to silence those, with many fans pushing for Worcester City to move their games to alternative venues to ensure fixtures are played.

City have played three matches away from Claines this season already; one at Sixways and two at Malvern Town's HDAywhere Community Stadium.

There are now doubts over whether the Isuzu FA Vase quarter-final against Emley at Claines will go ahead, with more rain forecast at the end of this week.

It is one reason the football club want to move into their own home. Plans have been revealed for City to build a stadium as part of a wider project at Fernhill Heath, but it is likely to be years before those come to fruition.