High winds and flooding made travelling by road perilous in some parts. It is nigh on impossible to know if your train will even turn up, let alone reach its destination.
But there is no VAR and a desperate need to prove there is life outside the Premier League.
On New Year’s Day, fans reminded the footballing public that although the Championship is second tier by name, it is by no means second rate in terms of its support.
Instead, the average attendance across the day’s 12 matches topped a remarkable 25,000, highlighting the passion of fans in a league that has become the 10th-best attended in the world.