A Level Playing Field?

[The Mayor Of Simpleton]

Just read these thoughts of Steve Whitney's on Pitchero:

 

 

I would hazard a guess that if you are around my age (50-plus!) then the FA Cup final will still hold a special meaning, despite the plethora of live televised matches on nowadays.

Back in the 1960s and 70s I can vividly remember sitting down to watch the BBC coverage of the cup final early on a Saturday morning – hearing what the players had for breakfast and how they had slept the night before etc., etc., things that then were unusual but now are taken for granted.

The build-up all morning, then the team`s bus ride to Wembley and the pre-match walkabout on the hallowed turf were all part and parcel of the special occasion that was FA Cup final day.

Then after the match had finished it was on with the boots and off to the local park or nearest patch of suitable grass with your mates to try and emulate that goal, that move or a great save seen earlier.

To modern kids all this would sound old fashioned. But I`m glad I went through that period. It was a special day and to my mind should always remain a special day.

That`s why I am hugely disappointed that the FA have bowed to TV pressure to have the kick-off moved to 5.15pm.

And not only because it makes things enormously difficult for fans of Manchester City and Wigan to get home on the train afterwards, but also it`s another bit of footballing tradition gone.

I absolutely hate the semi-finals being played at Wembley as it takes away the final occasion, and now this late kick-off which, I assume will now become the norm.

Another pet subject of mine is pitches at the lower levels of the game.

I recently included news of Oakwood`s refusal to build a 50-seater stand to satisfy ground grading regulations on Pitchero Non-League.

I applauded the fact that the club, whose usual attendance was barely into double figures, refused to out up a stand costing around £8,500 to £9,000 when they have other priorities such as re-roofing the clubhouse and wanting to install gas at the ground costing £3,500.

They also wanted to spend money improving the drainage on their pitch – something I have been banging on about going back to my Team Talk magazine days.

Football isn't played in a stand, it's played on the grass and there needs to be more focus on that.

We all want to produce the best players possible for our clubs and, ultimately, for our country.

But what do most of us do? We make our kids play on pitches that are little better than ploughed fields.

I wonder how Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo would get on if every ball bounced to them up around their knee somewhere, or if they went to take a shot with the ball bouncing sideways?

We have moaned about our coaches in England and how far technically we are behind many other countries in Europe.

I say take a little look at what we are asking our kids to play on week in and week out.

The FA and also most county FA`s are awash with money and whilst I accept that some non-League clubs don`t help themselves by spending too much on players` expenses/wages, more should be done and spent to improve pitches.

Then we might just see an improvement in technique.

 

Nail hit well and truly on the head!