The Adams Park Pitch
Last night I found myself at Craven Cottage, the contrasts with the League Two thriller the night before were numerous, perhaps of greatest relevance was the pitch and the play that it made possible. I knew our pitch was bad but didn't realize just how bad!
A true low bounce on a well watered pitch made the football (note foot not head) a joy to watch. I know money is v short but a decent playing surface of the new pitch we have to lay will make our football so much better - and attractive football, results aside, makes for bigger crowds. Hope we have the vision to invest in this direction for next season
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I doubt it is vision that is the problem...but folding stuff!
think that is what I meant by 'I know money is v short'...
I thought the proceeds from the share scheme were intended for improvements to the stadium facilities.
I think Tisdale liked our pitch actually, judging by his comments
To be honest I think we are better mixing it up anyway, ie punting it forward in our area then saving the actual football for the oppo final third. I haven't seen that our pitch has caused us problems in that regard and it will be even better when it is rugby-less.
@PBo The pitch is way too hard and I'm not sure that will change however little rugby is being played. I think this influences the style of play, the entertainment on offer and the fitness of our squad.
It must be sorted out and I'm not hearing noises from Andrew Howard to suggest it's that high up the priority list.
Completely right it does influence the way we play. It is a terrible pitch that the ground staff don't seem to be able to do anything about. Oh for the days when we were apeless and the pitch won awards...you can see it is so hard to control the ball. I really hope it is ripped up in the summer so we can see some decent passing on it again.
Not sure the exact reason but when you walk on to the pitch it's almost as hard as an old-fashioned tarmac school playground - hence the abnormal bounce. I guess the only short- term solution is to leave the re-seeded grass much longer to try and offset the hardness.
I understand the whole pitch is to be replaced in the summer, at the eye watering cost of £250,000. Due to the Desso surface it should have actually been done two years ago.
Didn't we win an award for one of the best pitches a few years back?
When I say a few I'm being vague for a reason
@BlueAway In the 90s and early 00s we consistently won pitch of the year or groundsman of the year or some such. Jim Gardner was our groundsman back then.
The pitch in 91/92 made our current surface look like a bowling green. I remember a feature on 'Saint and Greavsie' referring to it as 'the Adams Park beach'. Didn't stop us doing rather well though!
I'm sure I heard they cant afford to replace it and they were planning on rejuvenating it over the next 2 seasons
Although in the long term I would like to see us play on an artificial surface and enjoy perfect conditions every week IF we are playing in Lg 1 next year, a dodgy pitch might actually help us achieve the extremely challenging ambition of staying in that division on a relatively tiny budget.