I would think a sliding tackle would cause less ground damage than a fully contested scrum !
but thats a body sliding. The studs cause the ground to dig up in chunks. The only time you get that it the beautiful game is from a FK or GK.
So a kid sliding
I think this will show the difference.
In a scrum you have 16 men all digging their boots in to the turf which cuts it up like crazy
No - it's like a plough vs a fork. Like the longer studs, the fork digs in and stays where it is, whereas the plough creates a furrow as it travels over the top.exactly. it is digging the turf up. Its like a lawnmower vs a fork. The lawn mower skims over the grass where as the fork digs in and churns up the grass
Then why are there not big furrows all over the pitch after a watford match?? Yes there are divots missing where the keeper has kicked the ball or a free kick was taken, but other than that there are very few marks on the pitch.
All a slide tackle does is squash the grass a bit, the studs dig it up. Thats the difference.
On the subject of ground sharing with Barnet - I'd prefer that it didn't happen. Not for reasons of pitch damage, but more for the fact that it never seems to work satisfactorily. I still don't know how we have such a good relationship with Wealdstone after the shabby way we treated them![]()