Tag Archive for: Pitches

Boy Racers Churn Up Football Pitches

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Boy Racers Churn Up Football Pitches: Boy racers performing ‘donuts’ have churned up a team’s football pitch in Market Harborough.

Two cars have damaged a large section of the turf at the Symington’s Recreation Ground by performing stunts and driving about at speed on Sunday night.

Officials at Borough Alliance Football Club, who run 17 teams for up to 400 players, officials, volunteers and parents at the site, have branded the actions as ‘mindless vandalism’.

Mick Draper, club chairman and manager of the under-10 team, said he was angry at the drivers.

He said: “These boy racers have come onto the pitch on Sunday night at about 8pm after our teams played at home.

“These idiots have spent five or 10 minutes trashing our pitches doing donuts.

“They have caused damage to three pitches.

“You can’t print what I think about these idiots. It is mindless vandalism.”

Local people have rallied round to get a group of volunteers together to work on the pitches so they are playable on at the weekend.

The club have also received support from Harborough Hire Centre and Jewsons, who are providing equipment and materials to assist them.

The affected areas will be re-seeded.

Mr Draper said: “We will get all hands on deck and sort this. There is no way we will not be ready for the games on Sunday.

“Our under-15s are going for the league, our under-11s are in a quarter-final and the under-nines are in a semi-final.

“They are all playing at home and all games will go ahead as planned. We will not let these vandals win. “

Harborough District Council have said they intend to install extra bollards to prevent vehicles being able to access the playing surfaces.

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Pitches Ruined By Tyre Damage

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Pitches Ruined By Tyre Damage: A Renton football club were left devastated this weekend after Scottish Power vans ploughed through their pitches – leaving them unplayable.

A coach of Renton Craigandro FC spotted the vans from Scottish Power Energy Network on Friday as they drove through the grass at Tontine Park leaving large muddy tyre tracks behind them.

Club coach Joe Mulvenna told the Lennox Herald: “One of our coaches was passing by and saw the Scottish Power vans on our pitch.

“They decided to traipse vans and machinery over our land without even asking us.”

The damage to the turf forced the club to relocate a weekend match, as they feared the pitch damage could lead to injured players.

Joe said: “One of the pitches could not have any spectators and we couldn’t risk the kids falling through the ditches and breaking an ankle.

“Scottish Power have a pylon at the top and they have authority to access it. Their only way of getting at the work area is through our land.

“Obviously we have no problem with them going in – if there is a problem or there is a power cut in the Vale then they have to fix it.

“We are just asking for them to be a bit more considerate.”

Scottish Power left a digger machine on the land which the club had said they would hold until remedial work to repair the turf is carried out.

Joe said: “I have since met with their regional manager and they have given their word that they will make it right again.

“It was positive. We shook hands and he promised to get the pitch fixed.

“They left a machine on our land and until we got agreement that they would come to do remedial work, we would not be giving their digger back – it was a bit of a Mexican stand-off.”

Scottish Power, have now been in touch with the club and offered to mend the grass while also making a donation to the club.

Joe said: “Scottish Power have confirmed they accept responsibility for damages to grounds.

“They have agreed to make good any damage at their own cost and make a donation to club for inconvenience caused.”

The firm, who run a pylon from the site, have gained access via the pitches in the past.

However, Joe said previous vans have always put down matting to ensure the grass is preserved.

This is not the first time the club, which has almost 300 young players, have had their pitch damaged.

We previously reported how Renton Craigandro was targeted by vandals who set fire to their pitches. The club were forced to foot the bill and fix the damage themselves as well as relocate their matches.

Joe said: “We have had a history of vandalism on the pitch and, if we had not seen the Scottish Power vans, I would have thought it had been joy riders ruining the pitch.”

A Scottish Power spokewoman said: “We apologise for the damage caused to the playing field, which was unfortunately exacerbated by the recent spell of bad weather. Work still needs to be carried out to an underground cable on this site which is critical to the overall reliability of the network in this area.

“We have assured Mr Mulvenna that we will reinstatement the playing field to the original condition and will meet with him shortly to discuss the works going forward.”

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New Terra Spike For Premier Pitches

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New Terra Spike For Premier Pitches: Specialist sports turf contractor, Premier Pitches, has added a Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8 HD to its list of machinery, specifically for work at renovation time.

Director, Jonathan Woolfall, of the Sheffield firm which won The IOG Contractor of the Year in both 2016 & 2017, said:

New Terra Spike For Premier Pitches

“A lot of clubs want deep aeration built into end-of-season packages.

“We bought this machine principally to use during the renovation period, so mainly April, May and June. When you do renovations there can be many tractor and trailer movements across a pitch which inevitably lead to compaction.  After we’ve put the sand and seeds in the ground, an efficient deep tine with the GXi8 helps air circulate below the surface, then, we just leave it alone…it’s a good way to conclude such works.

“We needed to replace a machine so with dealer, Balmers GM, we looked about to see what was available. The precision and build quality of the GXi8 were second to none. It’s light, fast and easy to transport around the country on a small truck.  We bought it with the knowledge that it will be with us for a very long time.”

Easy tool-free adjustments mean that heave and depth settings can be finely tuned to suit conditions.  Importantly, the GXi8 HD offers Advance Tine Control a uniquely patented feature which makes sure the tines’ incision into the ground is always precise leaving a neat finish. It has a working depth of up to 250 mm and covers a whole pitch in less than three hours.

For more information, visit: www.wiedenmann.com

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1 In 3 Grassroots Pitches Adequate

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1 In 3 Grassroots Pitches Adequate: Only one in three pitches at grassroots level is of adequate quality, says the Football Association.

The figure is part of the FA’s written evidence for a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) parliamentary hearing on Wednesday about the possible sale of Wembley Stadium.

The FA says it is “considering a sale because it represents a transformative opportunity” to change “the poor state of community football facilities”.

The DCMS hearing starts at 14:00 BST.

The FA has received an offer of £600m for the national stadium from Fulham owner Shahid Khan – the governing body would retain Club Wembley rights which it values at £250m-£300m.

Among those taking part in the DCMS hearing are Sports Minister Tracey Crouch and FA chief executive Martin Glenn.

Sport England chair Nick Bitel, former England and Manchester United defender Gary Neville and Katrina Law, co-chair of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, will also answer questions.

The problems with grassroots football?

There are 21,000 grassroots clubs, 50 county FAs, 25,000 schools and 330 local authorities which are catered for by the FA and, along with the finding that only one in three grassroots pitches are of adequate quality, the FA’s written evidence also highlights:

  • 150,000 matches were called off last season due to poor facilities
  • One in six matches are called off due to poor pitch quality
  • 33 of 50 county FAs are without their own 3G pitch
  • Cancelled matches account for the equivalent of 5,000,000 playing opportunities lost this year because of poor facilities
  • There are half the number of 3G pitches in England than there are in Germany

“The word for grassroots football is ‘crisis,'” said Kenny Saunders, who runs pressure group Save Grassroots Football. “Government cuts to local councils are having a massive impact.

“Councils can’t maintain pitches and more of them are selling them off.

“I would welcome the sale of Wembley if the money is ring-fenced for grassroots football and used wisely. We need to build from the bottom.”

How much does the FA currently spend on grassroots football?

Since 2000, the FA says it has invested around £615m in grassroots football along with the Premier League, Sport England and the DCMS.

The FA has put £127m back into every level of football during the 2017-18 season and this will rise to £180m from the 2018-19 campaign onwards.

“In 2017, investments included £13m in coaching and participation; £17m to the county FAs for the delivery of community football; £4m in disability, equality and child protection; £20m investment in community football facilities; £5m for women’s football development (taking our total spend in women’s football to £13m); £36m in FA competition prize funds; £18m of investments in other football organisations and £14m of various other investments,” said the FA.

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Football’s “Made in England” Pitches

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Football’s “Made in England” Pitches: Sunday’s World Football Cup Final, the first-ever to be staged on a revolutionary hi-tech playing surface, is set to deliver a multi-million pound boost to SIS Pitches, the English firm behind the groundbreaking technology.

Cumbria-based SIS Pitches installed its hybrid surfaces using patented fibre injection technology with undersoil aeration system in six of the 12 tournament venues, including Moscow’s 81,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium, which will host Sunday’s decider between France and Croatia.

Football’s “Made in England” Pitches

Luzhniki’s pitch uses SISGrass, – 95% natural grass reinforced with 5% synthetic fibres – and SISAir, a unique aeration system capable of removing a deluge of rain from the surface in just five seconds, whilst optimising root moisture via a network of undersoil pipes.

George Mullan, CEO of SIS Pitches, said: “With around one billion people expected to watch the final, there’s clearly pressure to get the pitch in top condition, despite it being used for over 60 hours – the equivalent of a full Premier League season – in the past five weeks. That would have been impossible on a traditional all-grass pitch.

“Everyone has been raving about the quality of football at this tournament and our pitches have certainly given Modric, Lukaku, Mbappe and Kane a brilliant platform to perform on. The feedback we’ve had from everyone involved has been hugely positive. It’s the first worldwide showcase for these technologies to be combined at a World Football Cup final and it’s performed perfectly.”

The six World Football Cup stadia using SISGrass are Luzhniki, Spartak, Samara, Kaliningrad, Saransk and Rostov.

Football’s “Made in England” Pitches

Having installed over 80 hybrid surfaces worldwide, including English Premier League sides Chelsea, Newcastle United, Fulham and Bournemouth, as well as Scottish champions Celtic and the English FA’s St George’s Park complex, with Barcelona to follow, SIS Pitches predicts annual revenues will grow from £55m to £65m in 2019.

Mullan said: “We’re seeing huge interest from professional sports teams in the US and Japan, as well as the enormous American university sector and we’re installing eight SISGrass pitches in France this summer alone.”

Founded in 2001, SIS Pitches employs over 340 staff worldwide, with manufacturing headquarters in Maryport, Cumbria.

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