FA Cup - It's A Trip To....

[GarySTFC]

Cobham as they won 2-0 this evening in their replay.

[BFR]

Good job it is a trip - the Stag Meadow pitch is dog awful

[Tom]

Looked a bit dry to me, where are the sprinklers?

[brighton_rebel]

If it rains boys and girls, bring your coats

[Windsor_Sec]

Quote:

King Tut said:
Good job it is a trip - the Stag Meadow pitch is dog awful

And your comments are based on your vast footballing experience at Stag Meadow are they King Tut?
No, didn't think so!
Instead of following the sheep who constantly moan why not try asking your players because they're telling us it's a vast improvement on last year [or maybe they're just being polite and don't want to hurt our feelings].

[GarySTFC]

Well of course it's a vast improvement on last year!! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

 

It did appear to be very dry last night and big patches in the goal mouth don't bode well, although the general main areas of the pitch, now it's been cut, do look much better.

 

Having been to Bromley on Saturday though, that was a superb pitch and if comparisons were made between the two, there's no contest.

[Windsor_Sec]

Quote:

Tom - STFC said:
Looked a bit dry to me, where are the sprinklers?

I agree Tom it did look a bit dusty last night but the sprinklers are working and are programmed for a full sweep over the whole pitch every night.
Because of the introduction of the sprinkler system the actual constitution of the pitch itself is undergoing change and it's something the groundstaff will have to adapt to as the season progresses. It's also had a very heavy dose of fertilizer to try and help those trench-lines come on a bit quicker which means the areas already heavily grassed are having to be cut every other day which in turn means much of the water that does go on it actually gets used by the grass in promoting regrowth upwards rather than strengthening the root zone.
In short, having the new sprinkler system does create a new set of problems where the upkeep is concerned but they're all good problems if that makes sense? I'm sure our groundsman would give you a lecture on all the technical aspects of growing grass for sports use if you want but you'd better set aside at least half a day if you're interested !!! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

[BFR]

'best pitch in the non-league'

'like a bowling green'

 

Comments made by Chairman of WEFC to local newspaper. Comments that are frankly embarassing for how little truth there is in them.

 

My comments are based on having seen the pitch for myself. I hope that it becomes everything you want it to be Steve but right now it looks dog awful. Please note this is an opinion several weeks into the season to see how it plays, not on first sight. Call me a sheep if you want, but I'm entitled to my opinion. And currently that pitch is DOG AWFUL.

 

Baa, baa, baa, baa

[Martin]

Do try and keep the toys in the pram Sec.

 

The pitch has improved significantly on last season and importantly since our first "home" game. Credit where it is due.

 

However, it is still some way short of being the top class pitch described by your Chairman. I would expect that over time the improvements will continue and eventually you will have a truly excellent pitch.

[Windsor_Sec]

Quote:

Gary-STFC said:
Having been to Bromley on Saturday though, that was a superb pitch and if comparisons were made between the two, there's no contest.

Two words for you Gary [and the 2nd isn't off. LOL] SIMON GOLDBERG.
With rumours of a £10k per week wage bill it's obvious he's pouring money into the club all round, given unlimited finances we could all do the same!
When my numbers come up on the lottery I'll invest in one of the 3rd generation artificial surfaces which will be prevalent in the next few years at all levels of football and we'll have no problems with the pitch at all then!

[Windsor_Sec]

Quote:

Martin said:
Do try and keep the toys in the pram Sec.

Toys firmly secured Martin [as always]. I cannot be held responsible for what people say in the newspapers and I have tried to give an accurate report on the progress of the restoration over the last few months but it doesn't seem to sink in with some people. I think terms like 'dog awful' are a bit OTT though and respond accordingly. At the end of the day it doesn't matter what the pitch looks like as long as it's a decent surface to play on and, like I said, we've only had positive comments from your players and visiting teams so far. Considering the work that was carried out and the exceptionally dry weather at the time I'm absolutely amazed that it is anywhere near as good as it currently is. Again, as I've said before, that's not to say that we don't want it to be even better and will continue to endeavour to make it so.
This will be my last reply on the subject of the pitch as it's becoming boring now but here's a few quotes that you might like to use whenever the subject of the pitch comes up again [as I'm sure it will]. In my opinion 'It's not the best pitch in non-league', 'It's not a bowling green', 'It is better than a lot you will see this season', 'It will get better as the season progresses', 'It is an investment for the future', 'We will continue to provide the best pitch we possibly can that finances and weather conditions allow', 'Have a nice day'.

[GarySTFC]

But Steve, was the £24k a misquoted figure? My brother-in-law was going mental when he saw that figure compared with the pictures of the pitch and said you'd been massively ripped off. Whilst I'm sure Mr Goldberg has dipped into his pockets, has it been to that extreme (24k)?

 

That said, once the patches are sorted out, if the pitch can maintain a similar level of quality and is well looked after for the remainder of the season, there's no reason why it can't be one of the best, under the circumstances.

[mal316]

Considering the system itself was 15-20,000 and on top of that there was the pump house and additional soil and sand added to the pitch.

 

There was also the hire of all the machinery to do the work plus the labour costs, so no, not a misquoted figure.

[Ted]

My view is that the pitch has definitely improved, the bounce of the ball seems much more even. I'm sure the patches will improve with time.

 

On a more general point, have Windsor applied for any ground improvement grants? There do seem to be a few available, http://www.footballfoundation.org.uk/seeking-funding/football-stadia . Click on National league system link halfway down page for further details. The old chestnut of cover might be one possibility, but I'm sure there are others. Best of all, its free.

[Windsor_Sec]

Gary, I've not seen £24k quoted anywhere but the system itself was something like £13-£15k, then you've got labour, machine hire, topsoil, sand, gypsum, grass seed, fertilizer, weedkiller, watering costs while the system was being installed, building the pumphouse station, installation of the storage tank, etc, etc.

I think that figure may also have included some of the work that started on the training pitch as we had about 50 loads of top soil delivered as well but I may be wrong.

If anyone's really interested in how much these sort of things cost there's a big exhibition [the biggest in Europe I believe] at Windsor Racecourse today [finishes tomorrow] that covers just about very angle of the sportsturf trade. It's free entry to anyone and I promise it will open your eyes when you start asking for quotes.

[Windsor_Sec]

Ted, we've been chasing them for years for a grant for new changing rooms and the training pitch but it's the old story I'm afraid, the higher up the ladder you are the more money gets thrown at you. Coca-Cola League and Conference clubs get about 90% of all funding available and the amount you get has actually just been reduced from up to 90% of the total project costs to a maximum of 50%.

The problem is you have to have your share of the project money in place before they will allocate any funding and how many clubs do you know that can afford to have 10's or 100's of thousands of pounds sitting in their bank accounts?

[Woody SUFC]

Quote:

Windsor_Sec said:
It's also had a very heavy dose of fertilizer

I thought i saw alot of [****!!****] on the pitch recently! Ba Da Ching!

[Barry Scott]

getting backon track somewhat, here's an aerial picture of what I assume is their ground. Roped off pitch it is then...

[Dominic]

Some more pics here

[Chris]

Cool, they use Champions league footballs if you look in the pictures. They must be good!