hows the pitch

[Peter macdonald]

How’s it going to be playable at 10-30 this morning if it wasn’t last night? Also I wouldn’t imagine any Hartlepool fans coming as they would have to leave at about 8 am at the latest

[anonymouse]

A Shots fan who some probably know actually offered his services and advice as he could see what was happening.
He is in the turf maintenance industry, why didn’t they take up his kind offer?
Madness Madness They Call It Madness.

......what would the Groundsman think about that ?

We know the gentleman who you are talking about, I had a long discussion with him at Eastleigh last week.

[SteveyAsp]

Embarrassing. We deserve to go down

At least if we do go down a lot of shots fans will have a weekend in Torquay or paignton to look forward to

Truro
Torquay
Weston
Eastbourne
Worthing (Brighton)
Bath
Weymouth (if there's a miracle)

Some cracking away weekends to look forward to! It would be horrible initially, but a bit of a feast for the amateur groundhoppers and coastal boozers among the Shots faithful.

5 of those within a couple of hours of me so easier than going to a home game but I'd still rather be in the National League but the fixture backlog is going to make our survival harder and harder.

[anonymouse]

To put some perspective on it, I do wonder if no matter how limiting the amount of games could have been, whether we would have still had the same problem due primarily to the drain problem. Yes it's been wet but what real consequences did the extra games make as opposed to the rain and collapsed drain which isn't the clubs fault.

It’s not the club’s fault the drain collapsed but they did know about it and chose not to invest in repairing, despite the windfall last season.

The drainage has collapsed during the season not at the start of it. It’s the lateral drain that appears to have collapsed and the only to check these out is to dig the pitch up find the drains and relay them. This takes time and money and with the wet weather it would be a struggle to get machinery onto the surface.

[Alex]

Just relegate us now!

[Sean Chambers]

A Shots fan who some probably know actually offered his services and advice as he could see what was happening.
He is in the turf maintenance industry, why didn’t they take up his kind offer?
Madness Madness They Call It Madness.

......what would the Groundsman think about that ?

We know the gentleman who you are talking about, I had a long discussion with him at Eastleigh last week.

I was chatting with him in The Golden Lion before the AFC Flyde game was called, interesting as well and he certainly knows his onions regarding this subject.
It’s a sad state of affairs that the club didn’t really want his help.

[Sean Chambers]

To put some perspective on it, I do wonder if no matter how limiting the amount of games could have been, whether we would have still had the same problem due primarily to the drain problem. Yes it's been wet but what real consequences did the extra games make as opposed to the rain and collapsed drain which isn't the clubs fault.

It’s not the club’s fault the drain collapsed but they did know about it and chose not to invest in repairing, despite the windfall last season.

The drainage has collapsed during the season not at the start of it. It’s the lateral drain that appears to have collapsed and the only to check these out is to dig the pitch up find the drains and relay them. This takes time and money and with the wet weather it would be a struggle to get machinery onto the surface.

Yep and it’s not as it we have money, despite the money that was made last season in the FA Cup run and wouldn’t have been budgeted for last season, along side with decent attendances.
Worrying times on and off the park!

[Alex]

It’s not the club’s fault the drain collapsed but they did know about it and chose not to invest in repairing, despite the windfall last season.

The drainage has collapsed during the season not at the start of it. It’s the lateral drain that appears to have collapsed and the only to check these out is to dig the pitch up find the drains and relay them. This takes time and money and with the wet weather it would be a struggle to get machinery onto the surface.

Yep and it’s not as it we have money, despite the money that was made last season in the FA Cup run and wouldn’t have been budgeted for last season, along side with decent attendances.
Worrying times on and off the park!

Don’t worry, we are going to win the Hampshire Cup!

[scorp]

Just relegate us now!

Surely the best for the club as things stand.

[Mytshot]

To put some perspective on it, I do wonder if no matter how limiting the amount of games could have been, whether we would have still had the same problem due primarily to the drain problem. Yes it's been wet but what real consequences did the extra games make as opposed to the rain and collapsed drain which isn't the clubs fault.

It’s not the club’s fault the drain collapsed but they did know about it and chose not to invest in repairing, despite the windfall last season.

The drainage has collapsed during the season not at the start of it. It’s the lateral drain that appears to have collapsed and the only to check these out is to dig the pitch up find the drains and relay them. This takes time and money and with the wet weather it would be a struggle to get machinery onto the surface.

Thanks for the explanation. Wasn’t the issue known about though? I’m sure I read in another message that the problem was known about when Chelsea used the pitch but a decision was made not to spend the money? I may have misunderstood or the two things aren’t related.
I guess it’s looking more likely that we’ll need to find an alternative venue to get games completed.

[Sean Chambers]

The drainage has collapsed during the season not at the start of it. It’s the lateral drain that appears to have collapsed and the only to check these out is to dig the pitch up find the drains and relay them. This takes time and money and with the wet weather it would be a struggle to get machinery onto the surface.

Yep and it’s not as it we have money, despite the money that was made last season in the FA Cup run and wouldn’t have been budgeted for last season, along side with decent attendances.
Worrying times on and off the park!

Don’t worry, we are going to win the Hampshire Cup!

like,others have absolutely no interest in that.

[Simon M]

11.4 mm of rain since around 3pm yesterday, in old money just under half an inch . Yes I keep an eye on weather records and stats so all from a weather station close by . That is a fairly wet night with the ground saturated it will seem like more rain than that .
Good luck to the grounds crew this morning but I fear your be battling in vain .

Simon

[Turnkey]

It’s not the club’s fault the drain collapsed but they did know about it and chose not to invest in repairing, despite the windfall last season.

The drainage has collapsed during the season not at the start of it. It’s the lateral drain that appears to have collapsed and the only to check these out is to dig the pitch up find the drains and relay them. This takes time and money and with the wet weather it would be a struggle to get machinery onto the surface.

Thanks for the explanation. Wasn’t the issue known about though? I’m sure I read in another message that the problem was known about when Chelsea used the pitch but a decision was made not to spend the money? I may have misunderstood or the two things aren’t related.
I guess it’s looking more likely that we’ll need to find an alternative venue to get games completed.

They aren’t related, you are correct. The drain that got blocked a couple of months back was one of the take off drains a the back of the pitch in the corner in front of the Community Stand. To be fair, this should be checked regulars it’s a known issue but easy to manage. The problem area with the sand on the pitch is a lot more complex as it’s due to the deep drainage on the pitch, to fix this in season will require 3 things -

1, A good spell of dry weather
2, A competent contractor being available at short notice, and
3, About 150k

It could have been fixed when we found it, but Chelsea were paying for pitch maintenance at that time and thought it would be fine for a good few years therefore thought it unnecessary to repair it.

The main issue for the Board now is to find the funds to sort it in the close season, but it won’t be cheap and will take a significant chuck of the clubs budget unless they can find a sponsor who will foot the bill.

[Silasgoldeen]

Are wet/muddy pitches statistically more dangerous for players than dry ones? We've had two season ending injuries in good pitches this season. I get the frozen pitch issue as that's clearly a risk but you'd think current conditions would be bad for football bt not necessarily unsafe. Or is this not the issue?

[Turnkey]

11.4 mm of rain since around 3pm yesterday, in old money just under half an inch . Yes I keep an eye on weather records and stats so all from a weather station close by . That is a fairly wet night with the ground saturated it will seem like more rain than that .
Good luck to the grounds crew this morning but I fear your be battling in vain .

Simon

I’ve just walked the hound over the local golf course, the ground is sodden and the course closed for now. It’s on chalk so drains well and they are hopeful of getting it open around lunchtime. If it’s still standing water that’s causing the problem then we have a small chance, but it the ground is saturated and unstable then we’re screwed.