| Pitch inspection 10.30 10:10 - Dec 21 with 9856 views | turnthescrew |
N/T |  | | |  |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 10:17 - Dec 21 with 4585 views | 442Dale |
The Oldham game was understandable because of the extremes in the weather but we’ve got real issues of the pitch isn’t draining after a day/night of on and off rain.
We all know about the problems of the past, but there needs to be clarity about the current situation and what else can be done to ensure games aren’t regularly in doubt. Rather than add wide player #11 in January, any available finance should be used to finally get a proper rain cover for the whole playing surface.
It’s quite reassuring to return to this debate a quarter of a century later. |  |
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| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 10:36 - Dec 21 with 4420 views | tony_roch975 |
It's off | |
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| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 10:56 - Dec 21 with 4176 views | EllDale |
Another hit to the cash flow not to mention wasted food, programmes etc | | | |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:00 - Dec 21 with 4125 views | 442Dale |
Our last Saturday home league game was on the 9th of November. That will be the only Saturday home league game we’ll have played between 20/10/24 and 25/1/25.
That’s if it doesn’t rain on the 24th January. | |
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| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:04 - Dec 21 with 4078 views | EllDale |
Saved some money with the removal of Alfa’s wage though! | | | |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:06 - Dec 21 with 4038 views | 442Dale |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:04 - Dec 21 by EllDale |
Saved some money with the removal of Alfa’s wage though! |
Quick, sign a wide player!!!!!
Not sure we’ve enough left now. | |
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| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:11 - Dec 21 with 3956 views | Rodingdale |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:06 - Dec 21 by 442Dale |
Quick, sign a wide player!!!!!
Not sure we’ve enough left now. |
Unbelievable - four hour drive, just arrived and it’s off. Has it really been that wet? Brought two newbies with me, no way we can do the rearranged match. So hard to support this club at the moment. | | | |
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| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:18 - Dec 21 with 3905 views | isitme |
Has the weather been that bad? It's not raining that heavy now so conditions won't get much worse. The pitch looked in decent nick on Tuesday so I'm not sure how it could have deteriorated so much in a few days. |  | | |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:29 - Dec 21 with 3798 views | judd |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:11 - Dec 21 by Rodingdale |
Unbelievable - four hour drive, just arrived and it’s off. Has it really been that wet? Brought two newbies with me, no way we can do the rearranged match. So hard to support this club at the moment. |
That last sentence is where I am at too.
The primary purpose of the club is to play competitive first team.games during a winter season and we should be geared up to get home games on given the geographical location. Exceptional inclement weather happens on occasion, but this week cannot be classed in the same way.
Perhaps Mitchell isn't fit? |  |
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| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:31 - Dec 21 with 3766 views | 49thseason |
The pitch nightmare continues.. other than a couple of seasons probably over a decade ago when the pitch seemed to drain quite well, this has been a constant problem that annual pitch renovations have not solved and probably made worse despite the outlay of £100,000s.
Its depressing and must have cost the club a fortune , not just in wasted matchday expenses but also in lost support and gate receipts due to shifting Saturday games to Tuesdays with all the knock-on effects of packing games into fewer remaining weeks.
We know the weather here is wetter than at any other football club in the UK, it should be obvious that some sort of wet-weather protection is needed and that the drains need rodding regularly.. unfortunately no-one seems to want to grasp the nettle.. err rods... |  | | |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:33 - Dec 21 with 3738 views | 442Dale |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:29 - Dec 21 by judd |
That last sentence is where I am at too.
The primary purpose of the club is to play competitive first team.games during a winter season and we should be geared up to get home games on given the geographical location. Exceptional inclement weather happens on occasion, but this week cannot be classed in the same way.
Perhaps Mitchell isn't fit? |
What gets me is the total disregard for how people feel by not providing more detail in advance and immediately following the postponement. As if we should all just acknowledge it’s rained and accept it.
Whether there’s something to follow over the next few hours remains to be seen, but they’ve already failed to keep fans aware of the potential problems. You either care or you don’t.
Culture and attitude. | |
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| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:37 - Dec 21 with 3677 views | Dalenet |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:11 - Dec 21 by Rodingdale |
Unbelievable - four hour drive, just arrived and it’s off. Has it really been that wet? Brought two newbies with me, no way we can do the rearranged match. So hard to support this club at the moment. |
Same here - another 300 mile round trip and overnight stay for nowt. It is becoming too hard to follow Dale nowadays. And too ruddy expensive. The new Chair needs to reflect on whether he should allow McNulty to keep signing players when the basics can't be delivered. Some rain covers are needed if the pitch that cost more than half a million is really this bad. I note from the accounts that the money refunded from the supplier is peanuts compared to this fiasco - at least spend that on hiring some covers. | | | |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:54 - Dec 21 with 3529 views | 49thseason |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:37 - Dec 21 by Dalenet |
Same here - another 300 mile round trip and overnight stay for nowt. It is becoming too hard to follow Dale nowadays. And too ruddy expensive. The new Chair needs to reflect on whether he should allow McNulty to keep signing players when the basics can't be delivered. Some rain covers are needed if the pitch that cost more than half a million is really this bad. I note from the accounts that the money refunded from the supplier is peanuts compared to this fiasco - at least spend that on hiring some covers. |
The problem then might be how to get rid of the water from off the covers.. I have always suspected that the water simply does not get to the drains and that the pitch surround needs digging up and big French drains put in on all 4 sides sloping towards Sandy Lane and out to the main drains. | | | |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:55 - Dec 21 with 3526 views | 442Dale |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:37 - Dec 21 by Dalenet |
Same here - another 300 mile round trip and overnight stay for nowt. It is becoming too hard to follow Dale nowadays. And too ruddy expensive. The new Chair needs to reflect on whether he should allow McNulty to keep signing players when the basics can't be delivered. Some rain covers are needed if the pitch that cost more than half a million is really this bad. I note from the accounts that the money refunded from the supplier is peanuts compared to this fiasco - at least spend that on hiring some covers. |
The covers that Matchsaver provide appear to be a potential answer looking at the sports and different clubs they supply. They might not solve every problem but of the cost of 8 of those is thousands, so be it. Better than the money that disappears each time there’s a postponement and, more importantly, the reputational damage and goodwill lost.
The club have to be seen to be doing something different. At the moment we’re back in the world of Trigger’s broom. | |
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| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:57 - Dec 21 with 3501 views | 442Dale |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:54 - Dec 21 by 49thseason |
The problem then might be how to get rid of the water from off the covers.. I have always suspected that the water simply does not get to the drains and that the pitch surround needs digging up and big French drains put in on all 4 sides sloping towards Sandy Lane and out to the main drains. |
They’ve done the drains before. We’ve heard it all and nothing changes. Proper covers will at least give us more of a chance and are an immediate action that can be taken. Those suppliers will be able to advise how the covers are used most effectively. | |
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| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 12:11 - Dec 21 with 3394 views | D_Alien |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:33 - Dec 21 by 442Dale |
What gets me is the total disregard for how people feel by not providing more detail in advance and immediately following the postponement. As if we should all just acknowledge it’s rained and accept it.
Whether there’s something to follow over the next few hours remains to be seen, but they’ve already failed to keep fans aware of the potential problems. You either care or you don’t.
Culture and attitude. |
Even more so than the pitch, the club's response is just...wet |  |
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| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 12:44 - Dec 21 with 3208 views | realisticdale33 |
Not good that. Needs sorting out. Oldham and now Boston. Embarrassing | | | |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 13:41 - Dec 21 with 2952 views | Yorkshire_Dale |
Never thought for a minute the game would be really under threat of being called off, even the wind has calmed. Today would have been a Christmas celebration with Santa hats and money in pockets for a lot of us.
it's not as if this problem has sneaked up us, we all know it's going to happen and the bad weather has yet to come.
It really is time to deal with this, all for "a bit of drizzle".....it's a false economy to ignore any longer just a complete drain on cash flow every time it happens.
How can we fund these covers? | | | |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 13:44 - Dec 21 with 2935 views | EllDale |
As far as I can see it’s the only postponed game in the top five divisions today. | | | |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 13:50 - Dec 21 with 2893 views | dingdangblue |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 13:44 - Dec 21 by EllDale |
As far as I can see it’s the only postponed game in the top five divisions today. |
It looks like the only postponement in the whole county. Truly embarrassing for Rochdale AFC. |  |
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| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 13:57 - Dec 21 with 2851 views | 49thseason |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 11:57 - Dec 21 by 442Dale |
They’ve done the drains before. We’ve heard it all and nothing changes. Proper covers will at least give us more of a chance and are an immediate action that can be taken. Those suppliers will be able to advise how the covers are used most effectively. |
The water has to go somewhere, if the surrounding drains will not take it then the covers will make little difference Ultimately we may have to take a couple of yards off the pitch on all 4 sides to get drains in with the capacity to take the water away. Its kind of the equivalent of building the pitch up a couple of feet to get more drainage, as at Gigg Lane if memory serves me correctly and probably at many other clubs... | | | |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 14:09 - Dec 21 with 2795 views | 442Dale |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 13:57 - Dec 21 by 49thseason |
The water has to go somewhere, if the surrounding drains will not take it then the covers will make little difference Ultimately we may have to take a couple of yards off the pitch on all 4 sides to get drains in with the capacity to take the water away. Its kind of the equivalent of building the pitch up a couple of feet to get more drainage, as at Gigg Lane if memory serves me correctly and probably at many other clubs... |
The pitch at Spotland was raised in 2020.
Until the club provide a detailed explanation of the issues it is all speculation but it’s a basic fact that having proper covers that prevent rain falling onto the pitch is better than rain falling directly onto the pitch. The company who provides them would then be able to advise around the problems getting the water off them. Presumably as they’re involved in this sector they’ll have a bit more idea than we do.
Covers are something we could purchase immediately, sorting drains and pitch structure can only be tackled at the end of the season. We have to act now. | |
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| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 17:06 - Dec 21 with 2183 views | 100569 |
Im guessing Murrays in-box will be filling up with an explanation from the board regarding this debacle. Its outrageous. Both fans and shareholders deserve a full and comprehensive explanation as to the current position regarding the pitch and drains. However, as per usual, we will just get fobbed off by Gauge and his cronies. [Post edited 21 Dec 17:07]
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| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 17:26 - Dec 21 with 2079 views | 442Dale |
| Pitch inspection 10.30 on 17:06 - Dec 21 by 100569 |
Im guessing Murrays in-box will be filling up with an explanation from the board regarding this debacle. Its outrageous. Both fans and shareholders deserve a full and comprehensive explanation as to the current position regarding the pitch and drains. However, as per usual, we will just get fobbed off by Gauge and his cronies. [Post edited 21 Dec 17:07]
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Over six hours and nothing more than the original brief statement about the postponement. It’s disrespectful to not even acknowledge that supporters will rightly want more information with a commitment to at least say something more will follow. Maybe it will, but it already speaks volumes that we’re yet to be sure of that.
The Trust should not need prompting via their members to seek a thorough explanation of the current state of the pitch and what the plans are.
They are supporters themselves and we know that without doubt they’ll have read the reaction on here (they mention the messageboard when speaking to fans in meetings/directly) and on other forms of social media. They have to act on this, and with a Trust representative on the club board we should hope to hear something via the Trust site on Monday at the latest - even if, again, it’s to acknowledge they’ll be taking it up with the club as a matter of urgency.
As they do read, there are some simple questions that need answering:
1. What are the current specific issues with the pitch that led to today’s postponement?
2. Are all future games in doubt if there is rain in the 24 hours before kick off?
3. What are the short term solutions that are being sought; ie. will we look to purchase proper rain covers?
There is no reason why these can’t be asked, with a response from the club being provided ahead of Christmas if possible.
I’m sure others have further questions that can be added too. | |
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