Enfield Town vs Dulwich Hamlet

[1F in Enfield]

Game off due to waterlogged pitch. Of the 25 Ryman fixtures, 6 have pitch inspections. Very frustrating as today's game would have brought in much needed income from the larger crowd, a chance to promote the club to new visitors and the redemption opportunity for Mondays 5-0 defeat. I understand the difficulties and cost associated with sorting out the drainage but what a shame!

[vauxhallman]

Why didn't we play the boxing day fixture on boxing day.

Is the pitch as bad as the pitch we played on Monday NO

Why such an early pitch inspection, surely noon is ok for a team coming across London. 

Why all those years ago when Ron Sturgess walked out onto the mass of sand that was to become our playing surface after minimal rain and saw the big puddles forming in the corner he said phone Roger and get those contractors back this pitch is not level, if you don't you will have big problems in years to come, The board I believe chose not to act on Ronnies  advice and now we are facing the consequence's.  

[vauxhallman]

now 5 hours after our pitch inspection and not a drop of rain fallen in Enfield.

I.M.O pitch inspection far to early and as a result has left us as one of only two premier games off Doesn't

look good for a premier side and yes I know the drainage problem will cost money but why cant the board release some of the revenue gained from the rugby, or has that all been spent.

Jack is doing a fantastic job on the pitch but he is not being helped by the amount of games being played on it and yes I know the revenue is important but there must be a balance.Rant over onwards and upwards for the

Towners.

[thegroundsman]

Still Waterlogged now, although we've had no rain all day it's still unplayable in a few places. Even if we was playing tomorrow or Monday we would struggle

[1F in Enfield]

Says it all really. Rain for 1 night, lots of hard work from the groundsman and the pitch is still out of action for 3 days. I imagine this is a priority for the club now.

[littlehampton]

Know many people were looking forward to this match and can fully understand their disappointment that it was called off. Jack is doing a great job for the Club and would have done everything possible to get the match played. There has been some pretty awful weather around the country over the past couple of days, with a lot of rain falling on sodden ground. An early inspection makes sense if there is little to no chance of the match being played. If a certain area of the pitch continues to be a problem, I guess this is a pressing priority for the Club, which no doubt is being addressed.

[andyetfc]

Hope that the number of games played on the pitch by teams lower than the first team is taken into consideration when the matter is addressed.

 

Keep going Jack.

[CD Towner]

well said andyetfc. The board really need to balance the importance of 1st team games/income vs other teams using the pitch week in, week out

[vauxhallman]

Well said Andy and CD Towner,the amount of other teams using the pitch is making Jacks job very difficult but he is still doing a magnificent job.

i.m.o the board could and should have addressed the drainage problems during the close season but instead decided to raise the profile of the club by offering the pitch to a rugby club!!!.They need to stop chasing pound notes and concentrate on the obvious problems the pitch is causing us Well done Jack not sure where we would be without you.

I know added revenue is important but the board must get the balance right or we will suffer.

[Tiger]

The number of games played or the fact it was used for Rugby has no relevance to the match being called off on Saturday. It is all very much down to science and geology.

 

A large amount of rain fell over a 24 hour period and that rain needs somewhere to go otherwise its simply sits on the surface, puddles  as you would know them. Because of the location of the pitch and the local geology the rain has nowhere to go.  The pitch being located on a flat plane and within a running track, which requires a foundation for the track and surrounding infrastructure.  Plus 18 inches below the surface are many feet of clay, though which water can not permeate. Therefore, when we get a large amount of rain in a short period it simply collects in the lowest point of the pitch, where the top soils is shallowest and where it finds it hardest to drain away, which is always the same place and is  hardly the boards fault! The local area also become very waterlogged and the same time. When we have time there are things that can be done to small arrears to remove the surface water but this does requires man poser and is not good for the pitch in the long term.

 

To remedy the situation we would either need to:

 

• Raise the pitch at considerable cost, which would also mean more watering during the summer.

 

• Putting in drainage trenches. This would entail wither digging up the pitch for the trenches and running track to create somewhere for the water to go or creating a sump and pumping the water out. Both of which would prove expensive.

 

• Cover the pitch during bad weather. OK if you have the resources to put on and take off the covers.

 

• Find another ground.

 

Unfortunately like many clubs we are restricted by what is considered a playable surface is this day and age although playing on a sodden pitch would be counterproductive as it only serves to damage the pitch more.

 

I was as disappointed as the next man and had arranged my festive period accordingly to ensure I would be at the game. However we are very much at the mercy of the  gods and can only hope that it does not rain on Fridays or Tuesdays.

 

If Vauxhallman believes he can run the club more efficiently perhaps you should have stood for election.

[littlehampton]

Vauxhallman there is an old saying " If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem". It is all to easy to criticise the ETFC board, our elected members, who put an enormous amount of time and effort into running our club and moving it forward. Most members and supporters would agree they generally do a pretty good job. If you believe you have something to contribute, why don't you, as Tiger suggests, put yourself forward, to help in some capacity, so that the club can benefit from your input and expertise?

[thecoldend]

Correct me if i'm wrong but this is the first postponement of the season so far???

 

What will Vauxhall Man want when it starts snowing??.... For the club to invest in a dome to cover the whole ground and pitch.

 

Can't help the rain fall we had.

[vauxhallman]

Tiger Man Thank you for your very informative post, didn't really give a thought about the running track adding to the drainage problems but now it makes sense.

Thats why maybe Littlehampton I would be no use on the board.  

[andyetfc]

The thing about a forum is that some posters are not known to anyone else. Therefore, vauxhallman may already be one of those dedicated supporters who does in fact help out at the club. you never know.

[Steph]

It could be worse we could have a pitch like Witham's or East Thurrock.

 

The pitch is based on London Clay it doesn't drain easily and neither did the pitch at Southbury Road where the supporters had to dig out a soakaway in order for the fans to stop getting their feet wet at the Town end. That is why the pitch drained better than at Carter Hatch. As it is as Tiger says the provision of the running track prevents drainage away from the pitch.

[andyetfc]

I still believe that overuse of the pitch doesn't help matters.

[littlehampton]

I am sure you are right Andy, but as our Club is made up of quite a few sections, and is not purely about our first team, I guess there is no easy answer to the overuse of the pitch, as things stand at present, apart from perhaps follow Maidstone's example and go for an artificial surface. Recall there was discussion on this subject, a few months back on this forum, but not sure what was concluded. No doubt this important topic will generate plenty of discussion at the forthcoming members meeting next month.

[andyetfc]

I know we have a few sections, but we do need to get our priorities right.

 

Purely an example.

ETFC v Dulwich on Saturday. Maybe 450 attendees generating, say, £4000.00 plus secondary spends.

 

Game off so played on a Tuesday. Maybe 300 generating, say, £2750.00 plus secondary spend.

 

Certainly makes a difference to the coffers.

 

The more games played on it makes it a whole lot harder for Jack and his willing helpers to prepare for the income generating games, ie the first team matches.