Official: Work begins on Vale Park pitch

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Club News

Initial renovation and drainage works of the Vale Park playing surface have begun.

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[Guitar Ray]

Great news.  Hopefully the team will now realise their full potential next season and those fans obsessed by the state of the pitch will sleep easy, safe in the knowledge they’re able to ram a great big slice of humble pie down the throats of those of us who are less fussed.

[CambridgeDon]

Looked up the firm who are doing this work and they look top notch - a family firm with a pretty decent client list. Their work looks technically impressive (never knew what sand slitting was) and if they can tame the notorious Vale Park pitch it will be much to their credit. 

http://www.chappelowsportsturf.co.uk/sports/football/football-construction/

[Quebec_Valiant]

3 hours ago, Guitar Ray said:

Great news.  Hopefully the team will now realise their full potential next season and those fans obsessed by the state of the pitch will sleep easy, safe in the knowledge they’re able to ram a great big slice of humble pie down the throats of those of us who are less fussed.

I guess I'm in the middle ground on this.  I'm ok if it's not a golf green, but would prefer it not to be a swamp.  

[Guitar Ray]

16 hours ago, Quebec_Valiant said:

I guess I'm in the middle ground on this.  I'm ok if it's not a golf green, but would prefer it not to be a swamp.  

Pretty sure the truth is that it’s not been a swamp for many years and to suggest so is an over exaggeration in my opinion.  There’s a big difference between being muddy and being swampy.  The biggest issue I would say when watching from the stand is how much it cuts up when the weather is wet.  Divots causing the ball bobble and deviate, making it difficult to play the carpet football we all crave.  Fans weaned on modern day football expect the pitch to look like a carpet, which it could but it’s not essential, which is likely why the club have probably taken a staged approach to improving the surface given the obvious costs involved.

All things being equal the conversation will be dead in the water come the start of season 24/25, although somebody will probably complain the grass is too green.

[Quebec_Valiant]

4 hours ago, Guitar Ray said:

Pretty sure the truth is that it’s not been a swamp for many years and to suggest so is an over exaggeration in my opinion.  There’s a big difference between being muddy and being swampy.  The biggest issue I would say when watching from the stand is how much it cuts up when the weather is wet.  Divots causing the ball bobble and deviate, making it difficult to play the carpet football we all crave.  Fans weaned on modern day football expect the pitch to look like a carpet, which it could but it’s not essential, which is likely why the club have probably taken a staged approach to improving the surface given the obvious costs involved.

All things being equal the conversation will be dead in the water come the start of season 24/25, although somebody will probably complain the grass is too green.

I agree that it is not anything like the pitch used to be.  Famous FA cup triumphs against Spurs and Stoke were achieved on a pitch far worse than this season, however, there were times this year where you could see players slipping as significant pieces of turf were clearly not connected to the earth in any meaningful way.  It might be better than it used to be but it is more than just a few divots here and there.  It needs improving and to suggest so isn't nitpicking.

[Guitar Ray]

1 hour ago, Quebec_Valiant said:

I agree that it is not anything like the pitch used to be.  Famous FA cup triumphs against Spurs and Stoke were achieved on a pitch far worse than this season, however, there were times this year where you could see players slipping as significant pieces of turf were clearly not connected to the earth in any meaningful way.  It might be better than it used to be but it is more than just a few divots here and there.  It needs improving and to suggest so isn't nitpicking.

I don’t think anyone would say it’s nitpicking.  At the end of the day the pitch does need work, which is, and will be, carried out.  But anyone saying it’s a swamp is wrong.  Worth bearing in mind that the cause of the large pieces of turf slewing away was supposedly down to remedial work, which, we were told, would pay dividends later in the season.  This also coincided with large areas of the pitch being covered in sand and looking more like a beach.  I’d argue this was also the point in the season when the condition of the pitch looked at it’s worst, and this was before the onset of winter.  Anyway, as we’ve heard, funds are being spent on improving the pitch now rather than later, so hopefully any impact this may have on the playing budget now will not be the case in a couple of seasons time.