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This time last year a decision was made to dig up the pitch and lay a new one it seemed at the time a bold move but a proactive one. Today its becoming apparent the pitch is a write off or is it? no communication from the club leads to speculation. Ive only seen the pics you have seen it close up so is it worse than last year? is it worse than it looks or better than it seems? will it be played on again?
There have been some years just as wet. Remember 2000/2001 where we seemed to be playing most Tuesday nights after January? The year of Paul Connor, McCourt and Townson?
And I seem to remember about ten years ago we had a few games called off because of a waterlogged pitch around Christmas? One of them was a game versus Notts County when I was stuck on a bus coming over Blackstone Edge!
Wasn't there an infamous game against Plymouth when the pitch was deemed waterlogged with some of their fans in the ground?
Games are called off now when they'd go ahead in the past. I remember a game v Southend at home in 1986 when we were literally lifting the mud with forks and watching the water drain away as the players were warming up around us. I was 10 at the time and the club/referee/Southend had no problem at all with this situation and the game went ahead on a surface you wouldn't ever see these days.
Actually, thinking about it, the Southend staff that day were really pleased with our efforts and that's something I should have been really proud of.
Remember one game v scarborough I think when it rained heavily at 2 pm and ref called it off it was fine before then. When you look at the tuesday night oldham game abandoned after 25 mins
I remember a game from the 80s, think it was Steve taylor’s Second debut. Think it was 2-2 with Swansea or Hereford. The goalmouth were under about three inches of water. Awful conditions but it made more better entertainment.
Yes Col, I think standards have changed now, I'm not saying they could have played with that huge lake on the pitch last week - but when you look at some of the old footage (Maidstone at home defeat) - I'm not sure they'd play on that today. Everyone is now used to playing on carpets - anything other than that is frowned upon.
[Post edited 3 Feb 2018 10:04]
Its a BRILLIANT goal to cap a BRILLIANT start by Rochdale - Don Goodman 26/08/10
Another game played under water was Torquay United. Cannot remember the year but we won 4 or 5 - 0. Torquay that day were just not interested in the conditions.
Didn't we kick off against Oldham a few years ago on a pitch that was obviously not going to last it led to a goal with the ball getting stuck in a puddle for an on running forward. The game was then postponed before half time?
Note the white socks on the infamous Elding picture. Oldham turned up with their full away kit; white shirts, blue shorts and blue socks so we had to change. For the rearranged game they brought the white socks from their home strip
However, any game that is blue/white/blue v white/blue/white enters the realm of an OVERALL CLASH. That’s never good.
Games were played in the old days that wouldn't have kicked off now. If you look at old games on the Internet the pitches look really ropey around the Feb March time of the season.
I played for TBA in the old days and because it was our own pitch we more or less told the ref we were playing. I can remember one game in particular were there were pools of standing water all over the place. When the ball landed in one it would sail away in the wind like a galleon.
Made this same point a few days ago, but with the added factor that pitches, including Dale's, were generally more resilient. They weren't "messed with" i.e. primped and pruned to within an inch of their life, a bit like a tart's hair which then falls out before its time
We had a game against Grimsby postponed on New Years Day in 2005 (?) at halftime because the pitch was completely waterlogged. There was a hell of a lot of confusion after the PA announcement whilst tickets for admission to the rearranged game were found and distributed.
Everybody gets 6 pints of thwaites and a tatty pies with mushy peas with gravy if so wish and all turn with your back to the pitch and it would soon dry out...
Mind you the toilets would need to be open for a few accidents..
My all time favourite Dale player Mr Lyndon Symmonds
The best thing about that match was that it was abandoned quite early, and we got to go home and watch Gareth Bale of Spurs terrorise Maicon of Inter Milan in one of the best Champions League games I've seen.
The weather forecast on my smart phone says Tuesday will be 2 during the day and -4 at night with snow. Temperatures hovering at freezing during the week as well,so looking dire for the Fleetwood game too. So what`s the chances both games being played,anyone brave enough to hazard a guess?
If as I thought I read somewhere the current tent covering the pitch blows heat under it the temp shouldn't be too much of a problem leading up to the games,that said the low temps certainly won't help i'm guessing
I guess they need to find a way to prepare the pitch on Monday as best they can then get the tent back on to keep the pitch warm for much of Tuesday. Then get the hot hair covers back on immediately after the game however long it takes. I hope the club have paid for extra help on both Monday and Tuesday to make that happen rather than leave a couple of grounds staff to do it
They can prepare the pitch under the cover, it won’t need removing until a few hours before kick off.
If we win the game, I really hope the club are considering keeping the cover for a longer period even if it ends up costing most of the prize money for a win.
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