THE new season is finally here; all the waiting is over, the hopes and dreams of a decent squad to propel us up the league, what can possibly go wrong? Well, the weather, as it turns out.

Just when you think you have almost seen it all in football, something comes along and just makes you speechless.

Remember the date, August 5, 2023, the day Colchester United announced themselves in the history book for what has to be the most bizarre reason.

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We have the dubious honour of having had the first-ever opening day league fixture called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

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Yes, that’s right, at the start of August, the heavy rain in North Essex meant the pitch was more suited to waterpolo than the football we longed to see between the U's and Swindon. It would be funny, if it was not so serious.

I know that the club cannot control the unseasonal downpour and that the final decision is the match officials to make, but it is a bad look.

Had it not been the first game of the campaign, then maybe some of the over-the-top reaction on social media would not have materialised.

But to say that we should be docked points or even as one Swindon fan said, be liquidated, is just nonsense.

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At 1pm the game was on; the referee has been out and was happy.

By that time, the covers would have been off as the matchday set-up was well underway and nothing short of a closed roof would have helped in the epic rainfall that occurred after that.

I was as disappointed as anyone in the ground, but understand why the game was postponed, even so late in the day.

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It's all well and good me saying this, having lost only a few hours after a short drive, some food in the fresh air and a quick drive home to change into dry sock.

It's the away fans that suffer the most, in both cost and time. I have no doubt that had we been up in Barrow and the same thing had happened, I may have a slightly different view on things.

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You can't control the weather, but using forecasts and weather mapping there must be a system that can be put in place to maybe advise travelling fans?

My personal view, and I am sure others will disagree and/or have their own ideas, is to have some sort of percentage scale that is used in the 24-hour build-up to kick-off, giving an indication of how likely the game is to go ahead.

While downpours like last Saturday's might make this tricky as at 1pm we had a game and then at 2.30pm it was all off, given how poor the weather has been this year as we head into the autumn and winter months, it could be of more use.

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Clubs would know the state of their pitch and what the local weather is like and the affect it may have.

While the scale would not change the final say from the officials, it would help fans make an informed choice as to if they feel the risk is with the reward.

Admittedly, there will be error and games will be on that looked unlikely and games off that looked likely.

But it's all about helping fans make informed choices and trying to mitigate a wasted trip, if it was touch and go for them in the first place.

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Well that’s enough about the weather - we've all dried off and hopefully got over the disappointment and frustration of last Saturday.

All eyes now turn to Wednesday and the tough test that is Cardiff City away, in the EFL Cup.

They played out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Leeds on Sunday and will almost certainly look to rotate and put out some younger fringe players.

This, coupled with the desire to get out playing football from the Col U lads, may be the makings of a cup upset.

Let's back the boys on the road and fingers crossed we have football rather than puddles to talk about, next weekend. Up the U’s.