Off Topic HKR Having a fantastic day
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Luckily our midweek game's away so at least they'll have a week to fix it...
Coventry was rugby union, the MKM is hosting Rugby League, massive difference. It's widely agreed RL does less damage to a pitch than football does.
Widely agreed by who? Why was the boulevard like a cow field and Boothferry Park like a billiard table if that was true ?
When I moved the London Broncos into AFC Wimbledon last year we had to jump through hoops to convince the club, and the manager who was totally against it, that the Rugby League would not cause any damage to the pitch over an above a football game. The groundsman at the time spoke to people at Hull, Wigan, Huddersfield and Doncaster as well as Brentford (they had conducted a similar thing because of a Union team moving in) and it was unanimous from all of those clubs that the sharing of the pitch did not cause any additional stress, particuarly given the times of year Rugby League is played. Robbo, the manager, also spoke to 2 managers including Grant McCann and was perfectly satisfied in the end. He ended up watching most games and he and I still speak reguarly.
The biggest issue for clubs is the pitch markings. The groundsman assured the board he had paint that would leave them totally invisible but it did not work and Wimbledon fans went ape ****, which I understand after they finally got their ground back on Plough Lane only to have some egg chasers draw all over their pitch!!
Overuse of the pitch by either football or Rugby can have a detrimental effect on the playing surface, particularly if at the time of playing there is heavy rain. 2 games a day under those conditions can seriously affect it. I wasn't having a pop at Rugby per se, just the fact that 2 games in a day, under the wrong weather conditions can damage the playing surface.
Understood and extreme weather would be an issue you're right. I'm sure the SMC would have been looking at the financial benefit first and formost as it would have been Ehab when this was all arranged.
Clubs share with union teams, which with union having contested scrums, mauls etc, cause more damage to the pitch than league and play at the same time all through the worst winter months with no problems. Our problems our down to our pitch.
Of course it damages the pitch, so does football but the Cov situation was caused by having an entire commonwealth games 7's tournament played on it as opposed to 1 match-date so it will get time to recover.
Light, drainage and frequency of use affect a pitch much more than the code of 'football' being played on it.
There were times BP was also a quagmire when the drainage hadn't been maintained.
I believe drainage and continuous roofed stands reducing light in the darker months are the main issues with the pitch at the MKM.
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Plenty of stadiums have continuous roofed stands and no problems. Drainage tends to cause the most problems though I think City’s pitch itself is a problem. Union pitches which used to mud patches are now good even in winter and football pitches which were terrible are now good, Elland Road is one example, so why we have so many problems is a mystery. And, just think, the original intention was for KR to play at the stadium as well.
Acun said something about poorly designed drainage being the root of the issue but would be expensive to fix, so I think they're looking at different types of surface to help mitigate.
Yes high roofed stands aren't an issue if you're prepared to pay the leccy bill for the growlights...
We do seem to hear these days that drainage is the main issue with the pitch don't we? Yet when the stadium was built I recall being told that the drainage was 'state of the art' and so advanced that water would always drain away regardless of how heavily it rained. A water logged pitch could never happen at KC/KCOM/MKM we were assured. They seem to use the sprinklers at just about every match even following recent rainfall - so presumably the drainage can't be that bad can it?
Sprinklers don’t add much they just freshen up the surface.
Sprinklers on a matchday just make the top layer a bit slicker. It's ground saturation that's the problem.
Two groundsmen were sacked at City for not preparing/repairing the pitch after rugby league games. The sacking came about after an investigation by the Premier League following a game against Swansea (could have been Stoke) who reported the KC pitch (as it was known then) as being substandard when they played on it the following day after Fc had. RL and football are two entirely different sports and pitches have to be prepared differently. The wear and tear on the pitch is such that City have to relay a new pitch every summer. We never had to do this at Boothferry Park. I doubt if groundsmen employed by a club would say the pitch they are paid to look after will not take both sports because it would reflect badly on their ability. I know Alex Ferguson kicked up an almighty stink when he was manager at Man Utd after one RL game was played on Old Trafford. Also a RL international played at Boothferry Park in the mid 80's ruined the pitch for months afterwards. So, I don't agree, rugby league teams used to train on football pitches where I played amateur football, mainly because their own pitches were in such a poor state and it wasn't long before the football pitches were exactly the same.
Huddersfield and Wigan don’t have as many problems. Clubs which share with union teams which plea at the same time all through the worst weather in the winter don’t. A load of matches played over te Magic Weekend on one pitch don’t seem to cause a load of problems at Newcastle and other football stadiums they have used. I think other factors may play a part in the problems with our pitch. Not that I wouldn’t be happy to see us as the only team using the stadium.
Common practice for pitches to be laid every summer at most grounds. It's not 30 years ago. Don't see the relevance of the groundsmen sacked for misconduct either - if they did their jobs they wouldn't have been despite some elements using the media to create an Allam witchunt.
Either way, theyve laid a different kind of pitch this time apparently which should hold up better - but I remember BP pitch being at times excellent but also a cabbage patch at times - and there was only city playing (and training) on it.
Obviously the Kcom pitch is rarely trained on and doesnt host reserve, junior, or amateur cup games probably sees less use than BP did overall despite the eggchasing.
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Most elite level clubs relay their pitch each year or do major works, as someone else has said its not the 80s.
As I said, several clubs that share with RL clubs fed back via email that there is no significant problem sharing with a Rugby League club.
I'm not sure how you sharing a park pitch with a rugby league team can be compared to elite level sports facilities and the opinions of groundsmen that are responsible for maintaining pitches to the highest standards.
Man Utd had a game played on their pitch on Saturday, I was there, it was immaculate before and after and I'm certain Ten Hag and the management at Old Trafford would have scrapped having the Grand Final played there by now if it had ever made the slightest difference to their pitch or performance.
I think there will be plenty on here who know what really happened with the 2 groundsmen thay were sacked but I won't be saying it.