Weather disrupts St Stephen’s Day Premier League fixtures

The thaw is on its way, but it's come too late for some of St Stephen's Day's planned Premier League clashes.

The game between Blackpool and Liverpool, and the game between Everton and Birmingham have both been called off thanks to weather conditions around the north west of England.

A pitch inspection had been due at midday at Blackpool, but the announcement of the cancellation was brought forward when it was clear that the pitch would remain unplayable by the time of the scheduled 3pm kick-off.

It's the third Blackpool home game in a row to be called off. Their Bloomfield Road stadium does not have undersoil heating.

These games join a growing list of  games across the English Leagues that will now have to be played in 2011. The Blackpool v Liverpool game has already been rescheduled for 12 January, with a kick-off time of 8pm.

Other matches cancelled today include games in the Championship between Middlesborough and Notts Forest and between Scunthorpe and Preston.

Over in the world of horse racing, there are no Irish or UK race meetings on what is traditionally a busy day for the sport.

The Leopardstown Festival due to start today will now start on Tuesday (28 Dec) and run until Thursday, while over in Britain, the Kempton race card for today, including the King George VI Chase, has been pushed back a day until Monday (27 Dec).