World Cup 2010 - England fans hit by powercut

Eurosport - Thu, 24 Jun 11:43:00 2010

Thousands of football fans missed the goal that took England into the second round at the World Cup after a power cut affected parts of south-west London.

- 0

The black-out struck Richmond and Twickenham at 3:20 on Wednesday - 20 minutes into the Three Lions' make-or-break Group C clash with Slovenia.

Striker Jermain Defoe scored what proved to be the winning goal in the match at Port Elizabeth on 23 minutes, meaning fans at pubs in the area were left watching blank screens.

Many poured out into the streets in search of a screen that was working, but to no avail, leaving supporters frustrated - and unaware that Defoe had just scored.

Energy supplier EDF took the blame for the chaos and said it was down to a fault on a high-voltage cable network. The company apologised for the incident, which cut power for more than an hour.

Fans's disbelief at the blackout soon turned to anger as they were left to rely on others' reports on the game.

Grace Smith, who was watching at the Web Ellis pub, said: "I think it’s a scandal. It's bizarre. Some guy ran in shouting it's 1-0."

Steve Hurcom, 41, from Twickenham, said: "I reckon there was just too many people watching the game. It’s very annoying."

An EDF spokesman said: "EDF Energy Networks would like to apologise to several thousand customers in the Twickenham area who lost power supplies at 3.20pm after a fault on the electricity distribution network.

"The first customers had power again within six minutes with all supplies back on, in stages, by 4.38pm.

"We recognise this incident will have affected viewing of England’s World Cup match and our engineers worked as quickly and as safely as possible to restore supplies."

It is not the first time a crucial goal has been missed by fans this World Cup. A blunder by ITV HD during England's opening game against the USA meant fans missed Steven Gerrard's goal after they mistakenly cut to an advert break mid-game.

England scored just those two goals during their Group C campaign. They will now face Germany in the second round on Sunday.

Eurosport

Comment 35 - 54 of 54

Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

  1. The sweaty's have ruled England for the past 12­ years.. and look at the mess they made of that

    From kaff333, on Fri 25 Jun 23:07

  2. scotscum...lol

    From PAUL, on Fri 25 Jun 21:04

  3. Yawn, as usual some bitter jealous Scots are harping on­ again. This is so boring and they only end up looking­ silly.

    From , on Fri 25 Jun 16:54

  4. Helen, go and get a life girl! I'm sure that most,­ if not all of us, are all more than aware of the planet­ and it's problems, however, this is a World Cup­ Football site where we can kick back, relax, discuss,­ argue, debate and critique the football teams from­ around the world. My first question would have to be:­ Why are you reading any comments on here anyway, seeing­ as you apparently think football is a waste of time,­ and that we supporters should all be sitting in a­ corner with the rest of the lunatics like yourself,­ wasting what time we have left worrying about what­ little time we have left! Get out there and enjoy life­ to the full while you can f.f.s. and leave others to­ enjoy themselves! ;-)

    b.t.w. Do you realise that­ frowning causes facial wrinkles and crow's feet,­ while smiling only creates laughter lines? :-)

    From JB, on Fri 25 Jun 14:48

  5. Whoever wins the World Cup, this glorified live game of­ Pong, will matter not in the grand scheme of things.­ I'm glad that there was no power cut when I was­ watching Discovery Channel, upon which cosmologists and­ astronomers were discussing how the sun will eventually­ burn up this small planet of ours and destroy the solar­ system, therefore we need to look at ways to eventually­ venture out to other planets beyond our own galaxy if­ we are to survive. Also, there was footage of the­ efforts of everyone working on solving the current oil­ spillage in the Gulf Of Mexico.
    After the World Cup,­ these things and other things the Government don't­ want you to notice, will still be relevant, whereas the­ activities of 22 millionaires ruining a lawn will still­ remain of no importance whatsoever to any of it unless­ they can score a goal several hundred feet beneath the­ ocean to plug a leak, or whether a football orbiting a­ moon alters its gravitational effect on the adjacent­ planet so much that a shift in climate enables­ atmospheric conditions to improve favourably towards­ terraforming.

    What happens if you collide two opposing­ football fanatics in the LHC??? I have a theory that­ this could lead to the discovery of a General Zod­ particle. And that would be Bad.

    From Boffin, on Fri 25 Jun 14:22
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Fiona, (Comment48) In answer to your question you need­ to go read up on the history between the two countries­ to get a better understanding of the subject matter.­ Basically, the Scottish people have been­ "ruled" by the English government for about­ 300 years which obviously doesn't sit well with a­ proud people. Add to that the fact that the English­ government use Scotland as a test ground for their mad­ ideas first, before deciding whether to implement then­ in England. The Poll Tax fiasco readily springs to­ mind, and if you're too young to understand what­ I'm talking about, I again advise the use of those­ history books!

    And I haven't even mentioned how­ much the English have themselves stoked this fire over­ the years by continuously reminding all and sundry­ about 1966! No fcukin' mention of what then­ happened to the great world champion team in 1967­ though, is there? ;-)

    I hope this helps to answer ­ your question in some way.

    b.t.w. I actually supported­ England during the 1966 campaign but now wish I­ hadn't bothered.

    From JB, on Fri 25 Jun 13:03

  7. I like football but get over it. You missed a football­ match, so what? The score is all you need to know­ anyway.

    From Anna Hewits, on Fri 25 Jun 12:24

  8. LOL its my mate damo is that at the front :D

    From j20ricky, on Fri 25 Jun 12:17

  9. 'Lynnda'. Check my posting again, dumbo!
    Where­ did I make the claim that England have always­ qualified?
    Anyway what's more to the point. How­ many times have the 'haggis-eating,­ frock-wearers' qualified?

    From dave.fleming, on Fri 25 Jun 12:05
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    world cup football is for couch nancies. why not get up­ your fat arses and play football. ps i hate football­ and i am ashamed to be english because of this nancy­ parade. xx

    From charleychimpneck, on Fri 25 Jun 11:55

  11. Get the booze in for Sunday to celebrate an England­ win,lets make it a day to remember make our voices­ heard in Bloomfontein.Meant for everybody young and old­ come on the lads.

    From Roger, on Fri 25 Jun 11:17

  12. it intrigues me how the media have create this­ antagonist disagreement can no one see the bigger­ picture anymore?

    From SOPHIE, on Fri 25 Jun 10:59

  13. 45 Dave.fleming - check your history books - England­ haven't always qualified...1978 springs to mind for­ a start!!

    From Lynnda, on Fri 25 Jun 10:46

  14. Please tell me, why are the scottish so bitter? If­ England were not in the world cup and they were then­ i'd support them. I just can't understand where­ all their bitterness comes from. They talk like we are­ a very poor team but at least we made it to South­ Africa. Where are they?

    From Fikay, on Fri 25 Jun 10:34

  15. People fear England especially USA because they know we­ are much better than them.

    From Paul, on Fri 25 Jun 9:56

  16. Well at least England still have some of their pride.

    From Kirsten, on Fri 25 Jun 9:46

  17. hello i am mork from the planet orc.i have just landed­ on planet earth.can someone please tell me who scotland­ has played so far in the 2010 cup finals?many thanks.

    From dave, on Fri 25 Jun 9:41

  18. eee...first an ad break on ITV HD meant that some­ people missed Gerrard's goal, and then a power cute­ meant that some people missed Defoe's goal. i feel­ sorry for these people.
    i think that England played­ mint on Wednesday, they finally got their act together­ and were playing like we knew they could.
    didn't­ like Rooney too much though. he wasn't playing­ properly and his passes were not good at all. he­ couldn't keep the ball for long and always passed­ to other people rather than scoring like he should do­ as the striker of the team.
    can't wait for­ Sunday's match and i am praying that we win the­ match. hopefully they play properly, and hopefully­ Rooney gets his act together. C'MON ENGLAND!!­ ♥

    From Hema, on Fri 25 Jun 9:37

  19. they have to have something to moan about or they­ would'nt be happy

    From gunga, on Fri 25 Jun 9:33

  20. 'highlandcelt1'. It's patently obvious that­ you're just another sad, Scottish, T W A T! - whose­ national-team is forever incapable of making-it out of­ their regional, qualifying group.
    Either get a life, or­ do us all a favour - and cut your whinging-throat.

    From dave.fleming, on Fri 25 Jun 9:22
Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account

Global World Cup coverage