Tag Archive for: Pitch

Vandals Damage Cricket Pitch

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Vandals Damage Cricket Pitch: The pitch at Rainham Cricket Club has been vandalised by a group who took to the surface on motorbikes.

Tyre marks and skid marks were left on the wicket after a group of youths were seen on Thursday, August 16 on off-road bikes driving across the wicket.

The club was due to have a match yesterday afternoon but the bad weather meant it had to be rained off.

One member of the club was later walking his dog when he saw the youths, and saw the damage that they had left.

Fortunately other members have managed to save the day and have tried to repair the damage so that the games planned for the weekend can still go ahead.

Club captain, Jas Hothi, said that he was frustrated with what they had done, but praised club members for coming together to repair the ground.

He said: “It’s obviously really annoying but there’s not much we could have done about it.

“We see them hanging around on their bikes but you never expect this to happen.”

The captain said that member Ian Little, and his son Ben had been down to the ground to try and patch up the mess that the vandals had left.

Jas said that the club is still waiting for confirmation that the games planned for weekend will still be played at home, but said that the pitch was looking a lot better thanks to club members and the groundsman.

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Plastic Pitch Blamed For Injury

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Plastic Pitch Blamed For Injury: It’s feared that Jamie Murphy will face a lengthy spell on the sidelines after twisting his knee in Rangers’ 3-1 Betfred Cup victory at Kilmarnock.

James Tavernier blamed Kilmarnock’s artificial surface for Jamie Murphy’s injury hell – while Rangers boss Steven Gerrard called for plastic pitches to be outlawed in the Premiership.

The Ibrox club fear Murphy is facing several months on the sidelines after twisting his knee in yesterdy’s 3-1 Betfred Cup win at Rugby Park.

Skipper Tavernier was furious as the surface claimed another teammate after former Ger Martyn Waghorn was crocked on the Ayrshire astroturf two seasons ago.

Tavernier said: “I guarantee you that Murphy wouldn’t have the injury if it had been a grass pitch. He planted his foot, got a wee nudge and then just felt something go.

“If that’s on grass that’s not going to happen. That is twice now I have been to this stadium when a player has suffered a bad injury.

“First it was Waggy and now it is Murphy. These astroturf pitches are always a hazard and are always going to cause injuries to any professional.”

 Gers boss Gerrard was reluctant to put the boot in to Killie – but he insisted plastic pitches have no place at the top level of the game.

He said: “My opinion is elite football and we’re dealing with elite footballers, who earn an awful lot of money, and I think for every club worldwide it’s safer to have a grass pitch.

“Other people might have a different opinion to that but I think if you ask any manager worldwide they’d all prefer grass and I do.

“It’s difficult for me to comment, we all know that plastic pitches they are not as safe as grass, that’s fact, that’s simple.

“But I’m not here to disrespect Kilmarnock and their playing facilities. I know that it’s a big help to Kilmarnock having a plastic pitch, it helps support the running of their football club.

“But my opinion is elite football shouldn’t have any plastic pitches.”

Gerrard revealed Murphy was gutted at the crock agony that has left his season in the balance and the Gers boss admitted the pitch is an issue after his club suffered a serious injury on the surface for a second time.

He said: “I think it will be one of those things that will be up for debate.

“We’ll have to wait and see. I think if you ask Jamie right now he’ll say it was a pitch incident.

“I don’t think it’s the first time Rangers have had that type of injury here, I think Martyn Waghorn suffered a couple of years back.

“I don’t want to dive in too quick, we’ll wait and see what the examinations say but we’re all fearing the worst.

“Jamie’s sad, he’s upset, I think he’s fearing the worst. We’re devastated. That’s the only downer for us, we’re going away on the back of a fantastic victory at a difficult place but it’s come at a cost because Jamie looks like he’ll be missing for quite a while.”

Gerrard admitted the Murphy blow put a dampner on his side’s impressive win as in-demand Alfredo Morelos struck a hat trick – and had another strike wrongly ruled out despite crossing the line.

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Linnets Aim For Perfect Pitch

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Linnets Aim For Perfect Pitch: The Walks might be a far cry from the old Wembley Stadium and Portman Road, but Steven Curtis is relishing the change in role after becoming groundsman at King’s Lynn Town Football Club.

Mr Curtis, who has worked at a number of iconic venues during the last 40 years, is enjoying the challenge of trying to make the surface at Lynn pitch-perfect.

So much so that he has even put his property at Beck Row on the market so he can be closer to Lynn.

As if the task in hand wasn’t big enough when he took the job on, the lack of rain during one of the hottest summers for many years has hindered his hard work even further.

“The weather has been horrible for a groundsman,” said Mr Curtis.

“Water has been a problem, as it has been for everyone, and trying to get the pitch green has been a nightmare.

“Richard (Simper) has been an angel, coming in and moving the hose pipes which we’ve had on the go constantly.

“We’ve literally had two hose pipes on the go 24/7 so I think that Mr Cleeve might have a very sorry water bill, but what do you do?

While several players were dusting down their flip-flops for the summer holidays at the end of last season, Lynn’s groundsman was plotting a pristine playing playing surface for the new campaign.

Mr Curtis, 63, was left with the unenviable task of transforming the surface – which came in for much criticism from the club’s previous manager – into tip-top condition after leaving his position at Mildenhall after two-and-a-half years.

Lynn’s pitch had four thousand metres (two-and-a-half miles) of new drainage installed before it was eventually verti-drained, overseeded and fertilised.

“I’ve certainly done my 10,000 steps a day,” quipped Mr Curtis.

“We’ve had to constantly back fill the trenches to keep them topped up. We’ve shifted about 20 tonnes of sand to help us keep it topped up.”

As previous Linnets turf-tenders will concur, sustaining the pitch’s quality throughout a nine-month campaign is a mammoth task considering its heavy-duty usage.

But it isn’t such an issue for Mr Curtis who worked at the old Wembley between 1986 and 1994, along with clubs such as Ipswich, Norwich City, Leyton Orient and Cambridge United during 40 years as a contractor.

“The club approached me and I was happy to come here,” he admitted.

“It was a step up, bigger facilities, better players and better everything really.

“The players have been great and appreciate what has been done, everyone has been great which is why we’ve put our house on the market and our thinking of moving this way.”

And the chances of Lynn having a surface to be proud of come kick-off on August 11?

“At the moment it’s a seven out of ten for me,” said Mr Curtis.

“Come another three weeks and given a bit of moisture, I think we will be there or thereabouts.”

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Club’s Anger Over Pitch Damage

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Club’s Anger Over Pitch Damage: A council “must be held responsible” after race cars drove over a brand new football pitch costing thousands of pounds, an Irish League club has said.

Ballymena United said it was “saddened” at the incident during a stock car race at the Ballymena Showgrounds on Friday.

The venue is owned by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, which recently laid a new pitch after a major investment.

It said it was “deeply disappointed” by the incident.

The council spokesman said that “measures put in place to protect the new surface were inadequate” and that remedial work was being carried out on the pitch on Saturday.

The incident happened during a Ballymena Raceway stock car event on Friday night. The council leases the stadium to both the football club and Ballymena Raceway.

Ballymena United’s vice-chairman Don Stirling told BBC News NI that “stock cars have every right to be there” but the two sports are “just not compatible”.

“I honestly don’t know what the solution is, but the council have to be held responsible,” he said.

“They can’t keep cars off the pitch because if they veer off the track they have nowhere to go.

“They put down truck tyres (on Friday night) but they would have need massive tractor tyres to stop cars coming on the pitch.”

Mr Stirling said the new pitch had cost £250,000 and that the club had agreed to postpone any home games until 6 October so the new pitch could bed in.

“They’ve spent over £250,000 of ratepayers’ money on it, there’s a new sprinkler system as well. They can’t have cars driving over it.

“Ballymena United have one of the best facilities in Northern Ireland outside of Windsor Park – we just don’t have the bit in the middle you play on.

“In the past, referees have come close to calling off matches because there are tracks all over the pitch. Even oil spills.”

Tension between the stock car races and football club previously emerged in January, when Ballymena United manager David Jeffrey accused race organisers of a lack of respect after the pitch was damaged during a New Year’s Day event.

However, Aubrey Arbuthnot, who runs Ballymena Raceway, told BBC News NI he was “fed up” with criticism directed at the race events and that he had done as much as he could to keep cars off the pitch.

“All I want is fair play. I’m a ratepayer, not like some of the people sounding off in the press,” he said.

“We had 12 races last night. These cars race door handle to door handle. There’s up to 60 cars racing. Only two cars went off the track in separate incidents.”

Mr Arbuthnot said the council had organised and placed about 70 tyres around the track and around sprinkler heads and that he had insisted no personnel go on the pitch.

“Usually I have a clerk of the course and two photographers on the pitch. I didn’t even have a fire extinguisher on the pitch.

“I laid down the law to the drivers about what would happen if they went on the pitch. The driver who went off, he was spun off by someone else – he’s completely innocent.

“If I had found out who put him off, I would have put him out the gate. That’s how seriously I’ve been taking it.

“But it’s our first night back in and they’re hammering us.”

He added that he was unable to organise race meetings for three months during the racing season because of work going on at the Showgrounds.

“That’s a number of meetings I couldn’t hold. That’s a loss of revenue.

“Our season runs from about Easter to the first weekend of October. There’s only about five meetings that clash with the football season. That’s all. They just don’t want a stockcar around the place.”

‘Matter of urgency’

He added: “I’ve seen comments that I had been offered an alternative venue. That’s nonsense. You think I would have turned that down? If the council offered me another venue, I’d be out tomorrow.”

A spokesperson for the council: “We are deeply disappointed by last night’s incident and fully appreciate and understand the frustration around this.

“Ballymena Showgrounds is a multi-use facility, enjoyed by a wide range of local sporting organisations.

“The measures put in place to protect the new surface at the venue were inadequate for last night’s event.

“Remedial works are being carried out on the pitch today.

“As the owners of the venue, we are fully committed to doing all that we can to safeguard the new pitch, and we are considering a range of measures to minimise the risk of damage to the surface as a matter of urgency.”

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Artificial Pitch Burnt By Vandals

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Artificial Pitch Burnt By Vandals: Kelty Hearts’ artificial pitch has been burned, seats have been vandalised days after being installed, and youngsters have been seen on the roof of the club’s new stand.

The damage to the community facilities could see the club, which turned senior last year, lose its SFA licence because of regular pitch testing.

Police are now patrolling the area around New Central Park in a bid to stamp out the problem.

Meanwhile, the club is going to be footing the bill for CCTV, something it says it can ill afford.

Treasurer George McTrusty said the spate of vandalism had been wrecking improvements almost as soon as they were completed.

“We’re building a new stadium and they are trying to destroy the seats as they are getting installed, and they’ve been burning the pitch.”

The park with a 3G pitch, a community asset that is open to the paying public, is witnessing trespassing and vandalism on almost a daily basis.

This week has seen burn marks left across the main and children’s pitches.

Council community use team manager for Cowdenbeath Sarah Roxburgh said: “It’s incredibly disappointing that this enjoyment is being spoiled by a thoughtless minority who are determined to cause costly damage.

“We will be working with the club and police to help tackle this issue and make sure the park is a safe place for all to enjoy.”

Fife Council has invested £665,000 in the park for the whole community.

Local councillor Alex Campbell expressed his disgust at the behaviour of a minority of youths.

He said the club serves the community, from five-year-olds to 75s, and it was sad that so many local people worked really hard to deliver facilities for the community and “these vandals come along and destroy such a fantastic project”.

He added: “It is totally and utterly unacceptable that some youths are causing this mayhem.”

Police Scotland inspector Gavin Cameron said: “The abuse of these facilities is hugely disappointing for the community, and we are working closely with Kelty Hearts FC to tackle this issue.

“We are carrying out patrols in this area and I would urge people to please report any anti-social behaviour or damage being caused while it is happening so we can respond quickly and appropriately.

“We want local children and young people to enjoy their summer holidays and to make use of facilities like this sensibly and responsibly.

“Parents and guardians have a vital role to play by ensuring they know where their children are, and reminding them that such behaviour as we have seen here is not acceptable.”

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