The pitch

[mr.hobblesworth]

Any plans on replacing it? I see and hear a lot of comments, some even from our own manager, stating what a poor surface it is and now that we seem to be doing things properly, would it be worth taking the plunge and digging all the clay out? Is that the issue? 

[philmpv]

Any plans on replacing it? I see and hear a lot of comments, some even from our own manager, stating what a poor surface it is and now that we seem to be doing things properly, would it be worth taking the plunge and digging all the clay out? Is that the issue? 

Low priority I think as would cost a fortune

[Guppys left peg]

In an ideal world we would but would also be quite costly I'd assume. Not sure if they'd have the time this summer anyway for it to be done as they'll be having that Robbie concert as well.

[osprey]

It’s been like it for years and after Christmas it always gets worse 

would cost a lot to dig up and relay 

[mr.hobblesworth]

5 minutes ago, Guppys left peg said:

In an ideal world we would but would also be quite costly I'd assume. Not sure if they'd have the time this summer anyway for it to be done as they'll be having that Robbie concert as well.

Is that still happening?

Surely it must come to a stage where we (well, the owners) have to admit defeat and just get it sorted? I wonder if we'd have had so many injuries if we weren't playing on a pudding. 

[Guitar Ray]

Not sure what the fuss is about, the pitch is nowhere near as bad as it used to be and we’ve seen some lovely football played on it over the years.  I don’t think it cuts up as much these days and as bad as the pitch may be you can still pass a ball on it.  Some good football played tonight for example.

[Old fort]

Pitches?  Does anyone watch The Big Match Revisited? 

Besides, Swindon passed it around like they were playing at Wembley.

[Boslem's Brazil]

DC not happy with the pitch at all. He does imply something will get done about it though, so maybe this pre-season or next. 

[toyahw]

Found his comments a bit odd Sat as it looked alright. Tonight it looked really cut up second half.

[Guitar Ray]

2 minutes ago, toyahw said:

Found his comments a bit odd Sat as it looked alright. Tonight it looked really cut up second half.

Have to disagree with that second part.  I didn’t see any divots or notice the ground staff forking the pitch much at half time.  It’s mid winter, not many pitches at our level will look as good at full time as they did at KO.

[ValeForever.]

It's a pudding. Unless you've played the game you'll never understand & I dont mean that to sound patronising.

It's the roll of the ball, the bounce, the bobbles, the lack of confidence when a ball is rolled into you, the amount it takes out of your legs. Did you see Wilson smash one out of play first half? Massive bobble just as he put his foot through it. It's not conducive to good free flowing football.

Has held us back IMO for years. Should be right up at the top of the priority list. I've got no doubt it's behind our awful injury record as well.

For those who say "what about the 90s... worked okay then". Yes it did... when every other team was playing on a pudding every week. Its a hindrance to us now for sure. Would love for us to get it sorted & I genuinely think we will.

Fairly heavy hinting from DC tonight in the after match interview. Pub/Park level pitch, he's not far wrong.

[Joe B]

As mentioned, how did Swindon manage to pass us off the park then (even with 11 men)?

[blackdog]

I wonder what the cost would be to dig out the clay and replace with a modern pitch ?

[ValeForever.]

3 minutes ago, Joe B said:

As mentioned, how did Swindon manage to pass us off the park then (even with 11 men)?

Swindon aren't playing on that pudding every other week are they. It takes so much out of their legs, people seem to forget we'd only had 90 mins football (against prem opposition) in a month when Swindon turned up as well. Then proceeded to play half a game with 10 men. Anyone can turn up & string some passes together against 10 men when you're bang in form/fitness.

The pitch is shocking & has a big impact on us as a squad. Won't be told any different. 

[Doha]

2 hours ago, philmpv said:

2 hours ago, mr.hobblesworth said:

Any plans on replacing it? I see and hear a lot of comments, some even from our own manager, stating what a poor surface it is and now that we seem to be doing things properly, would it be worth taking the plunge and digging all the clay out? Is that the issue? 

Low priority I think as would cost a fortune

It'd be more an investment rather than a cost, and let's not forget Vale are now a very well run club owned by a lady who runs a very successful IT business with consistent revenue and no doubt a maxed out business credit score. The interest on a commerical loan to sort it out with an excellent new grass or even hybrid surface plus superior drainage, better covers, built in sprinklers etc like modern pitches have now and repay over x years, particularly with the base rate at 0.25% (for now!) is worth serious consideration.

Leeds recently installed a new pitch in just a few days! Bought it from Spurs for £300,000, some kind of hybrid surface I think.

It'd be a big whack, at least £500,000 I'd expect, but it doesn't have to be the case of a massive up front cost that could harm the playing budget, with a sensible commerical loan.

On the subject of facilities investment I noticed the other day that Vale requested planning permission last summer to demolish all the turnstile blocks on the railway and paddock side, all of them. I think it's timed out by now but Carol clearly has a long term masterplan for modernising and expanding the facilities 👍