OXFORD City's FA Cup first-round replay at Wycombe Wanderers last night was controversially abandoned after a small electical fire was discovered under one of the stands at the Adams Park ground.

City, who drew 1-1 at the same venue ten days ago and then decided to forfeit home advantage in the replay, had defied the odds once again by holding Division 2 Wycombe to 1-1 after 90 minutes and throughout 30 minutes of extra time.

Then, with the match due to be decided by a penalty shoot-out, the City fans in the Vere Stand at one end of the ground were asked over the loudspeaker system to leave their seats.

Minutes later, with players, match officials and supporters from both clubs totally bemused, the game was abandoned.

The fire, caused by a burnt fuse, was swiftly dealt with by firemen and it later transpired that, another fire alarm had gone off in the main stand. This proved a false alarm. Club fire officer Frank Knowles said: "We had a fire call from our automatic fire detector system at about the same time as the game was about to finish at the end of extra time.

"I phoned the fire brigade straightaway and phoned one of my senior stewards to check whether it was a false alarm or a fire.

"My senior officer reported seeing smoke coming out of the back of that stand and so started to evacuate.

"Because it was such an emotive time for the players and the people watching a good game, I had to go on to the tannoy and asked the people to move away from the stand. But I got very little response for some reason. In the meantime, a further fire alarm indicated there was a problem in the main building.

"My job is just get people out and make people safe." City officials and fans were left angry over the lack of communication from the host club, and the decision to abandon the game.

Secretary John Sheppard said: "A lot of people are angry because they feel cheated - that is a strong word to use - but it is a something beyond our control."

Chairman Mick Woodley added: "I would rather forget the controversy and remember the performance of the lads.

"You saw it with your own eyes - they played magnificently.

"It is hard to take. I am not an expert on safety, but they felt they needed to evacuate quickly and the ground was evacuated pretty quickly."

Both clubs were contacting the Football Association this morning to make arrangements for a third meeting between the sides.

Story date: Wednesday 10 November

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.