The pitch

[brian bloomfield]

Patience. New stadium will be finished next year. Chairman said.

Interesting fact I recently discovered, the Empire State Building took 13 months to build.

The EBB however?

Our project timeline is more like that of the Cathedral of Barcelona I think.

Very shortly 2026 will be its 100th anniversary and 144th year of build start. Last update estimate finishing touches will be finished in 2032. Not long to wait. Well worth a visit if you travel there, just remember to book your tickets on line or you could have a 2 hour queue.

[Staines Shot]

Looked a bit rough for a while now, we still use an external grounds company? I know weather been bad and a lot of games been played on it recently but its bad these days. Even in the summer i recall it not looking as sharp as it used to

[Turnkey]

Looked a bit rough for a while now, we still use an external grounds company? I know weather been bad and a lot of games been played on it recently but its bad these days. Even in the summer i recall it not looking as sharp as it used to

The lads who look after the pitch know what they’re doing and they are doing the best they can with the hand they’ve been dealt. It’s not down to them the state of the pitch, that lies elsewhere.

[WTF]

Looked a bit rough for a while now, we still use an external grounds company? I know weather been bad and a lot of games been played on it recently but its bad these days. Even in the summer i recall it not looking as sharp as it used to

The lads who look after the pitch know what they’re doing and they are doing the best they can with the hand they’ve been dealt. It’s not down to them the state of the pitch, that lies elsewhere.

I totally agree Turnkey

[anonymouse]

Looked a bit rough for a while now, we still use an external grounds company? I know weather been bad and a lot of games been played on it recently but its bad these days. Even in the summer i recall it not looking as sharp as it used to

The lads who look after the pitch know what they’re doing and they are doing the best they can with the hand they’ve been dealt. It’s not down to them the state of the pitch, that lies elsewhere.

Following on from this,

We have a new groundstaff team this year who provided us with a good renovation and doing a good job in looking after it maintenance wise despite the lack of proper maintenance over the last couple of years, having 3 psf did not help in a short period time in the prime growing season with the very hot weather and we could not get enough water on the pitch.

As the season has gone on we have simply played to many games ( yesterday was match 31) on the pitch in 1 week we had games, saturday - tuesday - wednesday - saturday this in a period of bad wet weather. With all this bad weather it is impossible to get a good helping of fertilizer down as it will simply wash away.

Another thought at present is there could be a colapsed drain in the pitch and the possibilty of this is being looked at this week.

I regulary talk with the grounds team and 3 of the previous groundsman who I have worked over the last 20 years or so and they all are blaming the weather, a loy of other clubs are the same as us but I doubt they have all played the amount of games we have.

Like you, we would love to have a better level of investment in the pitch to bring it back up to the standard it has been before.

[Peter macdonald]

There you go, another reason why this new cup competition is absolute garbage

[shots1965]

There you go, another reason why this new cup competition is absolute garbage

Really postie??

You'll be at the Final

[Peter macdonald]

There you go, another reason why this new cup competition is absolute garbage

Really postie??

You'll be at the Final

No I won’t, I’ve not been to these games thus far so why would I go to a possible final?

[chimpster99]

Firstly, congratulations must go to the groundstaff and volunteers for their efforts in the face of all this adverse weather and a ridiculous fixture schedule. The pitch is in a fairly sorry state this winter, but thankfully we have some great people working on it otherwise I'm sure there would have been more postponements by now. I'm sure that with a couple of weeks of better weather and TLC it will start to come back - the forecast is looking far more settled from Thursday onwards so fingers crossed.

The stadium overall is in a really bad state. I can see no reason for this other than neglect from the Board, convinced that their pie-in-the-sky scheme to build a stadium that no-one else wants will go ahead, and therefore they can run the existing asset into the ground. They are a disgrace, it's time for a complete re-set with some immeidate investment in the Rec and a plan for a sensible stage-by-stage refurbishment instead of this ridiculous vanity project.

I shudder to think how much has been needlessly p***ed up the wall on architects, consultants and solicitors! It would make the FA fine pale into insignificance.

[Alex]

The stadium overall is in a really bad state. I can see no reason for this other than neglect from the Board

Of course. It’s that simple!

[Harlow Massive]

Firstly, congratulations must go to the groundstaff and volunteers for their efforts in the face of all this adverse weather and a ridiculous fixture schedule. The pitch is in a fairly sorry state this winter, but thankfully we have some great people working on it otherwise I'm sure there would have been more postponements by now. I'm sure that with a couple of weeks of better weather and TLC it will start to come back - the forecast is looking far more settled from Thursday onwards so fingers crossed.

The stadium overall is in a really bad state. I can see no reason for this other than neglect from the Board, convinced that their pie-in-the-sky scheme to build a stadium that no-one else wants will go ahead, and therefore they can run the existing asset into the ground. They are a disgrace, it's time for a complete re-set with some immeidate investment in the Rec and a plan for a sensible stage-by-stage refurbishment instead of this ridiculous vanity project.

I shudder to think how much has been needlessly p***ed up the wall on architects, consultants and solicitors! It would make the FA fine pale into insignificance.

I agree chimpster99 perhaps a shareholder can get a breakdown of costs spent on this apparent referb/rebuild etc and also direct investment on the ground and pitch?

I totally agree about groundstaff and volunteers, without whom the club would be in a very bad state causing postponements etc.

[chimpster99]

The stadium overall is in a really bad state. I can see no reason for this other than neglect from the Board

Of course. It’s that simple!

What's your theory then Alex? Where's the maintenance spend going instead?

[Chris Myles]

The stadium overall is in a really bad state. I can see no reason for this other than neglect from the Board

Of course. It’s that simple!

What's your theory then Alex? Where's the maintenance spend going instead?

Same as always Alex, whinge whinge whinge.
I visited the EBB during the summer and there was a lot of work going on with the pitch. As far as the stadium being in a bad state, what is the point of spending money now with the possibility of a revamp some time in the future. If any body from the club reads this board then I would suggest it is time we had an update on the ground development even it is not good news.

[Old Bob]

Firstly, congratulations must go to the groundstaff and volunteers for their efforts in the face of all this adverse weather and a ridiculous fixture schedule. The pitch is in a fairly sorry state this winter, but thankfully we have some great people working on it otherwise I'm sure there would have been more postponements by now. I'm sure that with a couple of weeks of better weather and TLC it will start to come back - the forecast is looking far more settled from Thursday onwards so fingers crossed.

The stadium overall is in a really bad state. I can see no reason for this other than neglect from the Board, convinced that their pie-in-the-sky scheme to build a stadium that no-one else wants will go ahead, and therefore they can run the existing asset into the ground. They are a disgrace, it's time for a complete re-set with some immeidate investment in the Rec and a plan for a sensible stage-by-stage refurbishment instead of this ridiculous vanity project.

I shudder to think how much has been needlessly p***ed up the wall on architects, consultants and solicitors! It would make the FA fine pale into insignificance.

I agree chimpster99 perhaps a shareholder can get a breakdown of costs spent on this apparent referb/rebuild etc and also direct investment on the ground and pitch?

I'm not sure shareholders are entitled to that, HW. Shareholders are entitled to the most recent annual accounts. They are not entitled to financial details of the current year's trading. Also, it's a complicated business, far exceeding my knowledge of company law and accounting, but small and medium size companies can file abridged accounts. These may not have the level of detail required to do the suggested comparison.

Maybe a ShotsWebber who is an accountant or has financal expertise could set me straight, but I'm pretty damn sure the annual accounts would not have to detail every payment into and out of the company's coffers. I have been a company director in the past (and likely will be in the future) and have never seen that. Sums are given under broad headings.

Entitled or not, a shareholder could always ask, of course.

[Alex]

Of course. It’s that simple!

What's your theory then Alex? Where's the maintenance spend going instead?

Same as always Alex, whinge whinge whinge.
I visited the EBB during the summer and there was a lot of work going on with the pitch. As far as the stadium being in a bad state, what is the point of spending money now with the possibility of a revamp some time in the future. If any body from the club reads this board then I would suggest it is time we had an update on the ground development even it is not good news.

Exactly. Always the same people having digs/moaning about Azeem and the board!