Scotland vs Georgia suspended in ‘farcical’ scenes due to heavy rainfall

Scotland’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Georgia was suspended after just eight minutes due to a waterlogged pitch shortly after the hosts had raced into a 1-0 lead at Hampden Park. In typical British fashion, adverse weather conditions in June called the final international fixture of the season and summer to a halt, prompting the ground staff to rush onto the turf with their forks and brooms.

Celtic’s Callum McGregor had given Scotland the dream start despite the heavy pitch which was evidently affecting both teams as they tried to keep possession.

Passes were slowing up in the surface water while players were left soaked every time they attempted sliding tackles – much to the entrainment of fans.

The match officials initially decided the pitch was okay ahead of kick-off despite large elements of doubt as they gave the contest the green light to go ahead.

But they quickly changed their minds after witnessing the opening exchanges of the contest which threw the health and safety of the players into question.

Following some deliberation, both sets of players were led off the field by the officials as the ground staff began to work on clearing the surface water.

The Mail’s Craig Hope was covering the contest and wrote on Twitter prior to kick-off: “Scotland v Georgia… only in Glasgow would a summer fixture be in danger because of bad weather, but the sodden pitch looks unplayable in parts.”

He added shortly after: “Teams taken off with Scotland leading 1-0. They’ll try to clear the pitch but it’s still raining & that was farcical for the six minutes they played.”

A second pitch inspection was quickly scheduled for 8.35pm to determine whether the match could continue and things were finally looking positive for the spectators that travelled to Glasgow.

Although the rain was still falling both teams were set to be handed the chance to continue the contest even though the bounce of the ball was still very much questionable in the Scotland goalmouth.

Georgia had also been told that should the game have been postponed, they would still find themselves 1-0 down after six minutes when the match resumed.

The match was tipped to be moved to St Mirren on Wednesday if Hampden was not playable but thankfully, the game got the go ahead to be resumed at 9.05pm.

Scotland have made a dream start to their Euro 2024 campaign as they look to qualify for back-to-back European Championships.

They finished bottom of Group D at Euro 2020 after collecting just one point from their three group matches following a 0-0 draw with England at Wembley.

Steve Clarke’s side have been in dazzling form so far in their qualification campaign and executed a stunning late comeback to win 2-1 in Norway last Saturday.

The Tartan Army also have home wins against Spain (2-0) and Cyprus (3-0) to their name as they seek to continue building upon their impressive form.