MATCH referee Mark Brown said it was the “safest and only option” to postpone today’s FA Cup first round tie between Bury and Cambridge United at Gigg Lane.

The East Yorkshire official arrived at the ground shortly after 10am after being called in early by the Bury groundsman Michael Curtis following heavy rain overnight.

And after the heavens opened again at 11am, Brown called the match off due to a waterlogged pitch 15 minutes later.

“I got a phone call from Mike at 8am this morning saying there was a problem and can I get here as early as possible,” he said.

“I got here at 10.20am and the pitch was already very, very heavy, with lots of not surface water but patches where if you walked on it the mud and water came right above your shoes and your boots.

“At the time the weather was dry and sunny but the forecast from 11am was for heavy rain up to 5pm and sure enough at 11am the rain came.

“The representative, Jez, from Cambridge, came down and Ronnie Jepson (the Bury manager) and we all agreed it was a no brainer.

“Safety of the players is the most important thing.”

Brown, who officiated in Bury’s 3-2 win at home to Crewe in the Capital One Cup earlier in the season, said he first got in touch with the Shakers groundsman on Thursday.

At that point, Curtis told him he did not envisage any problems, despite Bury playing an FA Youth Cup match at Gigg Lane the night before.

But the pitch had already been badly cut up last Saturday, after a heavy storm during Bury’s 3-1 defeat to Torquay left pools of surface water on the pitch in the second half.

And Brown admitted that, after heavy rain again last night, he already feared the worst.

“I spoke with a local referee last night and he was telling me that the heavens had opened,” he added.

“You can’t control the British weather unfortunately. The conditions would have just made a farce of the game.

“If we had of started the game and then had to abandon it, as we have seen happen already this season, it can cause a lot of problems, especially if a team is 1-0 or 2-0 up.

“So the safest decision, and the only option in the end, was to call off the game and come back a week on Tuesday.”

The match has now been rearranged for Tuesday, November 19, kick off 7.45pm, with all tickets already bought in advance to be honoured at that game.