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The pitch

Forums New posts

northbankblue

Newbie
Although it was great to be back the 1st thing that was obvious to me was the state of the pitch.
It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it at the start of a season in my 44 years supporting blues.
Is there a reason why?
I can probably guess the answer has something to do with the old ownership!
However with all the rain this summer and the contractors being on site early on something must have gone wrong.
And why can’t we get a sniper in to shoot the foxes that continually dig holes in the pitch on the edge of the north bank area.
Let’s hope it doesn’t affect our playing style this season at home.
On a positive note it was great to be home yesterday rat free at last!
Thank you all 👏
 
The pitch was ripped up and re-seeded and there was no fertiliser to help the growth, the grass was left to grow without it, Ron certainly wasn’t going to get it and the consortium didn’t want to spend out on it until they owned the club by which point it was too late.

Not to mention even the blades on the mowers were only sharpened recently
 
In fairness, whilst the pitch didnt look at its best, the turmoil behind the scenes will have a significant impact on every single component of the close season, which includes the normal focus on getting the pitch in the best possible shape. And sorting out the routes into the ground that the foxes use. I still think it is in better shape that that seaon Phil Brown decided we needed a dangerous potato patch!

COSU have now been in charge completely for a grand total of 23 days, and there were several times since last season finished where the club not surviving was a very real possibility. The fact that the pitch was re-laid at all was 100% down to their commitmemt, because you can be sure as s*** that the rat did nothing to support them or contribute!

All things being considered, l really dont get the all round whinging that I have seen on here last night / this morning, about the team not being quite ready, needing reinforcements, some issues not being sorted etc etc. We are rebuilding from ashes here, and whilst we didnt need to re-form as a phoenix club, it wasnt that far from being needed! It is thanks to the hard work from a huge number of people in many different groups, the huge commitment shown by all to get the deal done finally, and the quite frankly insane faith when it came to COSU's massive investment that we still have a club at all.

Lets celebrate that we have our club back, that we are staying at Roots Hall, and we have a much brighter future. Everything else at this point is a bonus.
 
northbankblue said:
I agree with all of the above just wanted to know the reasons behind the poor playing surface.
Totally behind the great work that is going on at the club
Click to expand...
To be fair I thought surface played ok. Don’t remember any of our players struggling with it, I noticed a couple of York players stepped on the ball - that was it.
It was very hot yesterday so watering at half time made very little difference.
 
JD said:
To be fair I thought surface played ok. Don’t remember any of our players struggling with it, I noticed a couple of York players stepped on the ball - that was it.
It was very hot yesterday so watering at half time made very little difference.
Click to expand...
I always thought that we had one of the best playing surfaces in the league.
I was shocked when I sat down.
We desperately need a downpour or several. Need to get water down to the roots.
Seed will not germinate. Too hot at the moment.
Feel a bit sorry for the ground staff.
 
henry18 said:
The pitch was ripped up and re-seeded and there was no fertiliser to help the growth, the grass was left to grow without it, Ron certainly wasn’t going to get it and the consortium didn’t want to spend out on it until they owned the club by which point it was too late.

Not to mention even the blades on the mowers were only sharpened recently
Click to expand...
Fertilizer prices have sky rocketed and more.
I thought the playing surface looked a few inches lower and the drop off to the perimeter track not so big.
Although patchy looked flat and even bounced.
100x better than some ptiches we have played on recently such as the rugby made mess at Halifax, the sand pit at Flyde or the ploughed field at Altrincham.
 
ms brush said:
In fairness, whilst the pitch didnt look at its best, the turmoil behind the scenes will have a significant impact on every single component of the close season, which includes the normal focus on getting the pitch in the best possible shape. And sorting out the routes into the ground that the foxes use. I still think it is in better shape that that seaon Phil Brown decided we needed a dangerous potato patch!

COSU have now been in charge completely for a grand total of 23 days, and there were several times since last season finished where the club not surviving was a very real possibility. The fact that the pitch was re-laid at all was 100% down to their commitmemt, because you can be sure as s*** that the rat did nothing to support them or contribute!

All things being considered, l really dont get the all round whinging that I have seen on here last night / this morning, about the team not being quite ready, needing reinforcements, some issues not being sorted etc etc. We are rebuilding from ashes here, and whilst we didnt need to re-form as a phoenix club, it wasnt that far from being needed! It is thanks to the hard work from a huge number of people in many different groups, the huge commitment shown by all to get the deal done finally, and the quite frankly insane faith when it came to COSU's massive investment that we still have a club at all.

Lets celebrate that we have our club back, that we are staying at Roots Hall, and we have a much brighter future. Everything else at this point is a bonus.
Click to expand...
Very well said.
 
Massimo Giovanni said:
Fertilizer prices have sky rocketed and more.
I thought the playing surface looked a few inches lower and the drop off to the perimeter track not so big.
Although patchy looked flat and even bounced.
100x better than some ptiches we have played on recently such as the rugby made mess at Halifax, the sand pit at Flyde or the ploughed field at Altrincham.
Click to expand...

Regarding the fertilizer costs, can we not just get a couple of tanker loads from any Thames water river ? That will green it up for sure.
 
henry18 said:
The pitch was ripped up and re-seeded and there was no fertiliser to help the growth, the grass was left to grow without it, Ron certainly wasn’t going to get it and the consortium didn’t want to spend out on it until they owned the club by which point it was too late.

Not to mention even the blades on the mowers were only sharpened recently
Click to expand...
Thanks Henry. There ya go everybody, its the Rats fault, but oh no you had to chip in without a seconds thought all you doomsters😄
 
henry18 said:
The pitch was ripped up and re-seeded and there was no fertiliser to help the growth, the grass was left to grow without it, Ron certainly wasn’t going to get it and the consortium didn’t want to spend out on it until they owned the club by which point it was too late.

Not to mention even the blades on the mowers were only sharpened recently
Click to expand...
All the fertiliser suppliers had us on stop we had no chance of getting any in
 
I worry about how the pitch will hold up this season, as someone else said, it's the worst it's looked at the start of any season in my memory (thanks Ron). We play a passing game and skip forward a few months it could be in a really bad state, not that I'm an expert. Lets hope this doesn't stop the lads performing.
 
mattytheshrimper said:
I worry about how the pitch will hold up this season, as someone else said, it's the worst it's looked at the start of any season in my memory (thanks Ron). We play a passing game and skip forward a few months it could be in a really bad state, not that I'm an expert. Lets hope this doesn't stop the lads performing.
Click to expand...
We have few home games in the next month and more temperate weather will get it growing. Rain water will be better, marginally than mains.
I hope the new stands will employ some sort of water collection system to use the rain and also solar panel?
 
Last edited:
Massimo Giovanni said:
We have few home games in the next month and more temperate weather will get it growing. Rain water will be better, marginally than mains.
I hope the new stands will employ some sort of water collection system to use the rain and also solar panel?
Click to expand...
There is water collection storage by the ticket collection by the North East section of the stand. Whether that is used for the sprinklers i'm not sure. I'd imagine it should be, what with rain water being free and all that.
 
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