Most liked posts in thread: The Pitch

And what's the legacy of that windfall? An enduring deficit, no assets of our own, League 2 football and a plodding squad with few, if any, saleable assets.

 

Went to the game yesterday. As a former Groundsman at Plymouth Argyle (now living in Yorkshire) I always take an interest in the pitch. I'm pleased that no one is the blaming the groundstaff. We got loads of grief at Plymouth, all of it unjustified. We had major issues and then the club decided to hold concerts, which was the death nail for the pitch. The club budgeted around £600k for a fibre-lastic pitch. That was 10 years ago so add at least 10% to that now. You get what you pay for, buy cheap buy twice. Good luck!

 

Well thats not sorted really is it? Ask a professional how much it would cost for the upkeep then budget accordingly. If a club like Accrington can sort their pitch out then so can we. None of this rubbish about 'how bad pitches were in my day', sick of hearing the excuses. Time to move into the 21st century, albeit 20 years late.

 

The fact that Saturday's game went ahead given the huge recent volume of rain, and the standing water on the pitch on Friday, strongly suggests that the new drainage laid in 2018 is working very well.
The current state of the pitch therefore seems likely to be caused by us skimping on necessary routine maintenance last summer. I can't remember where I read that we did that, but it seems to have been false economy that is now biting us on the bum.

 

Since my early 40's but you don't have to get personal Park

 

From what I have been told the Harrogate firm did the drainage and from the videos they took it looked like they did a good job. Then I think the pitch was done with help and advice from the people at St Ives Bingley. They seem to have a fixation with Fibre Sand, which is probably why large bare patches on the pitch resemble Blackpool beach.
We should ask Carlisle United for advice. On Boxing Day their pitch looked like it hadn't been played on! And that that area floods from time to time. Do they have a large budget for the playing area? I doubt it.

 

You say better deal, what is our collateral in those discussions? Both parties need each other in this instance, its not like we've got anywhere else to go and we ain't ever gonna build a new ground. Gibb holds some of the better cards here in that we actually need a ground to play at and this is the only option.

 

We're experts on administrations....

 

Keefly stop moaning we are unbeaten in 5 weeks dude

 

Accrington's chairman said earlier this week the only way they sorted their pitch was to do a proper professional job on it, they'd already wasted 10s of thousands on suck it and see repair jobs. The proof of their work is there for all to see, the pitch was still playable and in good condition right after storm Ciara. This needs sorting in the summer, not two or three years down the line. Looking at photos this year of a solitary lighting rig trying to persuade non existing grass to grow on that surface is the epitome of pathetic. Needs doing this summer regardless of cost. Enough pissing about.

 

Spot on, it's not rocket science is it, they seeded it and the birds got about 25% of it and it never gets time to mature. I saw the pitch about one week before the season started and there was bald patches all over, it never stood a chance it's not drainage it's lack of grass the main ingredient. Put as many lights on you like you can't turn mud into grass, there is no GRASS.

 

Surely the Ricoh is slightly different though? Doesn't it get used as a multi purpose venue and host music events? It's not like the landlord only has one revenue stream.

 

Are you two seriously suggesting we share Elland Road??????

 

I'm sure Julian is showing Rupp what cutting corners achieves nothing, yes £1m is a lot of money (which I personally prefer spending on players) but something has to be done with regards the playing surface.
Not having a go but are the City ground staff up to the job once a new surface is layed ?.

 

A move outside Bradford is a complete non starter, this isn't the Bulls situation. Valley Parade is looking 'very tired' and does need investment, thousands of those seats won't last another 10 years, the pitch is a disgrace and it's things like this that need to be taken into account when renegotiating the new lease. It needs to be done in the next couple of years really so that another possible new stadium lends itself to those negotiations. No point in leaving it till a year or two before the lease runs out.

 

absolute disgrace looks like Rhodes saving a few quid on avoiding any maintenance last summer is going to cost the club a lot more than he saved, preventative maintenance is always cheaper than having to start again Rhodes needs to stop penny pinching in the wrong places

 

They have already advised us what needs to be done. Obviously it is too expensive for us to complete the work, and they don’t fancy sponsoring us.

 

Look around, grass has bee'n growing everywhere, local parks, in your gardens, local sport pitches, fields, it's even growing up through paths. But it won't grow at Valley Parade will it, it really is one of the worlds great mystery's The club should have open days so coach parties could come and witness this great phenomenon. I know it's hard to get grass to grow out of concrete, wood and plastic but an old chap told me if you use good soil and the right seed you will be ok. The same old chap was amazed how a pitch could not drain on a pitch that was situated on sloping land