Pitch inspection

[Campsall rover]

It is OFF

[ROVERSBELLY]

Match postponed according to Twitter

[Donnywolf]

Cheers ...

[steve@dcfd]

https://www.doncasterroversfc.co.uk/news/2024/march/colchester-pitch-inspection/

[idler]

No groundsman?

Who cuts the grass and marks out the lines?

Probably Curly are Larry if there’s no mow. 

[Filo]

Took some time to get the hosepipe and water onto the pitch

[Campsall rover]

It is a no brainer.

If there was a doubt yesterday and it is going to rain heavy for 9+ hrs today, end result, well no marks out of ten for that one.

[Alan Southstand]

Another game in hand!

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Their fans say the are ashamed of the postponements

One wrote "we will go down in history to be the only Club trying to finish our fixtures when all the Clubs are half way through their next Seasons fixtures"

There will be others postponed. They can't control the weather, so no shame there.

There's plenty of golf courses closed around here, so even if it were at the Eco, a match would really make a mess of the pitch.

[turnbull for england]

We came back from Manchester airport yesterday and the ground every where is sodden ,  it's got no capacity to absorb any more and bet it's same country wide. Can't imagine it bodes well for farmers and must be ruining crops

[Donnywolf]

I

Their fans say the are ashamed of the postponements

One wrote "we will go down in history to be the only Club trying to finish our fixtures when all the Clubs are half way through their next Seasons fixtures"

There will be others postponed. They can't control the weather, so no shame there.

There's plenty of golf courses closed around here, so even if it were at the Eco, a match would really make a mess of the pitch.

Im reminded of Rochdale who could never get Promoted from the basement Division. They used to get postponements multi times a Season due to where they are sighted in the Pennines and they said " their very poorly drained Pitch"

This led them to always seeming to have a backlog of Fixtures and they usually ran out of steam

I got a visit from an EH&S Inspector from there. I saw he had an Up the Dale sticker in his Car and being assigned to look after him I asked a few days in if it was true they had only gained promo once and he said Yes , we finished second in Div 4 and "I expect" he said you know the Champions from that Season. Oh of course says I

Anyway he blamed the lack of promos firmly on the state of the Pitch year after year. Then he said the Club said enough is enough and they decided to upgrade , uprate , improve the drainage generally

When work began (he said) they were in for a surprise as there was no drainage whatsoever and nobody could quite believe it. He loaned me his Book about the 68/9 Season and I only read the Cover and Title then put it in a Draw at work giving him it back after a polite pause of 2 weeks or so

It must have worked drainage wise as they are up to 3 Promotions now within the EFL that is

[ForsolongaRover]

The opening match at their current stadium when it was newly built was against Southend I think and it was at the beginning of the season and the pitch was notable because it was of such poor quality - especially considering that it was so early in the season and the first serious match played there.

The EFL seem to have standards for spectator facilities, yet they allow clubs like Bradford and Colchester to continue to host matches when their playing surfaces mean that they are unable to fulfil fixtures as soon as the weather turns against them. This puts their opponents at a disadvantage, not only by compressing their schedule, but because their preparations are disrupted, not to mention the inconvenience of the fans. Such clubs should be paying compensation all round and if they did, it would perhaps encourage them to be more radical in their measures to improve their pitches.

Another more punishing option would be an obligation to switch the fixture to the visitors’ pitch if it was playable.

[IDM]

Both teams are equally disadvantaged with postponements, other than when the visiting side and fans have already travelled/set off.

Clubs can’t control the weather.. Ok maybe drainage could potentially be improved but next winter may be colder/ frostier and snowy.  Clubs can’t control the weather nor be prepared for all conditions, at this level.

We will always get disruption so should expect it and live with it. 

We don’t complain about fixtures being re arranged due to a cup run do we? 

Instead of suggesting the EFL force clubs to deal better with weather, why not permit artificial pitches?

[Pancho Regan]

Bugger, I was looking forward to watching this on i-Follow tonight.

I bet Bradford City's pitch will be a mess for tonight's game against Forest Green.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

The opening match at their current stadium when it was newly built was against Southend I think and it was at the beginning of the season and the pitch was notable because it was of such poor quality - especially considering that it was so early in the season and the first serious match played there.

The EFL seem to have standards for spectator facilities, yet they allow clubs like Bradford and Colchester to continue to host matches when their playing surfaces mean that they are unable to fulfil fixtures as soon as the weather turns against them. This puts their opponents at a disadvantage, not only by compressing their schedule, but because their preparations are disrupted, not to mention the inconvenience of the fans. Such clubs should be paying compensation all round and if they did, it would perhaps encourage them to be more radical in their measures to improve their pitches.

Another more punishing option would be an obligation to switch the fixture to the visitors’ pitch if it was playable.

As suggested above, it sounds like you are campaigning for artificial pitches.

There's always been winter/adverse weather, and there's always been postponements. To try and beat the weather would incurr costs clubs can't afford, for the sake of a few games which may be postponed depending on the severity of weather each year.

I certainly wouldn't want an artificial pitch to be imposed on every game, for the sake of a few postponements. I'd rather the fixtures, including cups etc, be looked at to ease congestion in the earlier part of the season, and pitches being worn out too quickly before winter sets in. Of course there are lots of local factors for clubs to consider too, including flooding of surrounding areas, drainage, lack of sunlight etc.

[Draytonian III]

Nothing to do with today’s postponement, just a general question, how many grounds people do we have and do they look after the Cantley site and everything at the Eco Power site including the astro turf pitches etc ?

[Metalmicky]

TBH it might not be such a bad thing - bearing in mind we had four players replaced on Saturday with various issues/tweaks....

[acacia94]

Live in that corner of Essex and its been waterlogged here since November. Farmers fields have large populations of mallards happily swimming in them and we're on clay. The water struggles to disperse and just sits on the ground.
It was drying up at the end of last week for the first time in weeks but it rained pretty much all day on Sunday again and its been raining steadily since 8am this morning.
Not sure that BBC LG2 game postpone update with the ColU sprinklers on the pitch is the right pic though...rubbing it in a bit.

[Lesonthewest]

Their fans say the are ashamed of the postponements

One wrote "we will go down in history to be the only Club trying to finish our fixtures when all the Clubs are half way through their next Seasons fixtures"

There will be others postponed. They can't control the weather, so no shame there.

There's plenty of golf courses closed around here, so even if it were at the Eco, a match would really make a mess of the pitch.

That golf course comment reminded me of Earls Colne, is that golf course still going? Did a lot of work on the new buildings for a certain Eddie Shah, he was just getting it up & running. He took it in good spirit when we were doing the roof near the first tee, watched him tee off, scuff his shot & gave him some stick!

[Avsuptem]

They should play this game tonight so that both teams can bring on their subs.

[acacia94]

Hi Les – If you mean the one on the old Earles Colne Airfield site I think it is. Not a golfer – more interested in the B-26's that flew from there WWII – but the course looks to be still Essex Golf & Country Club. Blimey Eddie Shah eh....

[Lesonthewest]

Hi Les – If you mean the one on the old Earles Colne Airfield site I think it is. Not a golfer – more interested in the B-26's that flew from there WWII – but the course looks to be still Essex Golf & Country Club. Blimey Eddie Shah eh....

Yes that's the one mate! No not a golfer either, certainly a character Eddie, rolling up in his Bentley Azzure, 1 of 2 he had. Told us the story of winning £100 at cards, invested it, & that was the start for him. Thanks for the info.

[acacia94]

Sorry know this is drifting badly off topic (Waterlogged pitch to Eddie Shahs golf course!) but what year did you work on that Les?

[ForsolongaRover]

The opening match at their current stadium when it was newly built was against Southend I think and it was at the beginning of the season and the pitch was notable because it was of such poor quality - especially considering that it was so early in the season and the first serious match played there.

The EFL seem to have standards for spectator facilities, yet they allow clubs like Bradford and Colchester to continue to host matches when their playing surfaces mean that they are unable to fulfil fixtures as soon as the weather turns against them. This puts their opponents at a disadvantage, not only by compressing their schedule, but because their preparations are disrupted, not to mention the inconvenience of the fans. Such clubs should be paying compensation all round and if they did, it would perhaps encourage them to be more radical in their measures to improve their pitches.

Another more punishing option would be an obligation to switch the fixture to the visitors’ pitch if it was playable.

As suggested above, it sounds like you are campaigning for artificial pitches.

There's always been winter/adverse weather, and there's always been postponements. To try and beat the weather would incurr costs clubs can't afford, for the sake of a few games which may be postponed depending on the severity of weather each year.

I certainly wouldn't want an artificial pitch to be imposed on every game, for the sake of a few postponements. I'd rather the fixtures, including cups etc, be looked at to ease congestion in the earlier part of the season, and pitches being worn out too quickly before winter sets in. Of course there are lots of local factors for clubs to consider too, including flooding of surrounding areas, drainage, lack of sunlight etc.

I certainly am not after artificial pitches. What might be reasonably expected is a pitch that can remain viable in typical weather conditions - to be as playable as much as the vast majority of the other clubs they play. And I think that it is fair to expect that stadiums that have been put up in the modern era ought to incorporate agronomy (if that’s the right word) to be as durable and playable to at least the level that is typical for the league they are in. Bradford for example has 37 inches of rain a year which might give them some excuse, but Colchester’s ground and general location rather like Doncaster’s, being further east, has only 25 inches. We know this year has been exceptional, but it is country-wide and Colchester’s pitch seems to experience more problems than average every season.

Incidentally there are two golf clubs near Earls Colne, Earls Colne itself and the Essex Golf and Country Club, which is newer, but still at least 20 years old I think.

[Lesonthewest]

Yes apologies for hijacking the thread everyone. Would have been around late 80s early 90s I think acacia, memories not great!

[Donnywolf]

Hi Les – If you mean the one on the old Earles Colne Airfield site I think it is. Not a golfer – more interested in the B-26's that flew from there WWII – but the course looks to be still Essex Golf & Country Club. Blimey Eddie Shah eh....

Were the Greens slightly blue or an orangey colour like his photos when he launched the Paper

[TonySoprano]

Question for the stattos, when was the last time rovers had a home game called off due to a water logged pitch ?

[ravenrover]

Only a few years ago but I'm sure somebody will come up with a date and opposition. I was on my way up from Nottingham when it was called off. Aidrian Durham on Talksport was incredulous that a new stadium like ours had a waterlogged pitch, bit rich from a Posh supporter

Edit 2012 MK Dons ?

[Pancho Regan]

Amazingly, Bradford City's pitch was runner-up as best pitch in EFL League 2 only two years ago!

[TonySoprano]

Only a few years ago but I'm sure somebody will come up with a date and opposition. I was on my way up from Nottingham when it was called off. Aidrian Durham on Talksport was incredulous that a new stadium like ours had a waterlogged pitch, bit rich from a Posh supporter

Edit 2012 MK Dons ?

Good shout