BM - Surface

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don'tbuythesun
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by don'tbuythesun » Tue Jul 09, 2019 9:52 am

Trev, I wouldn't expect the (our) club to respond to comments on here. Probably worth an email asking for an update and explanation?

Mister e
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by Mister e » Tue Jul 09, 2019 1:17 pm

Has nobody been in touch with Manchester United to enquire about a few irrigation worms ?😁😁😁

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Re: BM - Surface

Post by dfc4me » Wed Jul 10, 2019 11:08 am

Assuming some of the money we pay DRFC is to cover the cost of pitch maintenance so if they are not keeping the pitch in an appropriate condition then would we be entitled to withhold a portion of our payment until the pitch is put right.

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Spyman
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by Spyman » Wed Jul 10, 2019 11:44 am

dfc4me wrote:
Wed Jul 10, 2019 11:08 am
Assuming some of the money we pay DRFC is to cover the cost of pitch maintenance so if they are not keeping the pitch in an appropriate condition then would we be entitled to withhold a portion of our payment until the pitch is put right.
Assuming, yes.
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by quakersfan » Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:04 pm

Last few seasons every time I went down to BM to look at pitch, John Tempest always seemed to be around, on asking him do you live here one of the reasons he said was to check on the pitch during pre season, having been down today today it doesn’t look great after the Motherwell game, apparently Matty who used to do the work has left so I have no idea who is main groundsman at present.

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divas
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by divas » Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:16 pm

Dial V for Ventress

Emdubya
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by Emdubya » Fri Jul 12, 2019 8:27 am

This is just another example of the gulf between us and our friendly landlords.If indeed the groundsman has gone and they have done bugger all about it and just let one of their “volunteers “ have a go at the pitch ,then we certainly have a right to kick off about it.
We are now into our third season up there and they can’t even get something as simple as bar staff sorted out,content to let a bunch of kids that haven’t a clue run it.Someone said earlier in the thread that the rugby club might be hurting for money again.Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea if they went tits up and left us to it.

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Re: BM - Surface

Post by al_quaker » Fri Jul 12, 2019 8:37 am

It'd be interesting to know the contractual details regarding the pitch - and whether there's any contractual obligation over quality. Quite frankly, unless the pitch dramatically improves, it could cost us money in gate receipts, as it'll be hard to play good football on that pitch as it stands, which of course could impact on attempts to get more people through the turnstiles.

Oh to be masters of our own fate, or at least have landlords with a reasonable level of competency.

H1987
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by H1987 » Fri Jul 12, 2019 9:40 am

I don't see how the rugby club can be hurting for money, whatever we pay them must be keeping them afloat pretty comfortably. What possible expenses do they have? Do they even pay their first team? I doubt it. Plus whatever kids and other players they have are probably paying subs.

I suspect it's just incompetence, but like i said earlier in the thread, it's in their interests to sort it out. Playing rugby on a dried out surface like that would be no good at all.

Hopefully words have been had, and it's been resolved. We only have one other preseason game on it, in two weeks, before the opening home game. We're just going to have to assume the powers that be have been working on a constructive relationship with them, and they can work it out sensibly and amicably.

What does concerns me is how much the rugby club use it. I believe the agreement was that only their first team would be using it, yet they seem to be perennially images going around on facebook of the women's teams and kid's teams playing and training on it as well. A combination of overuse mixed with improper care is going to do no good at all.

While it looked dry and dusty, with lots of yellow grass, in theory with some half decent weather and regular watering, that should be able to recover in time for the Gateshead game. But if they're not doing that, and then they have multiple rugby teams using it, it'll just become a worn down mess - which will then become an unplayable bog when the weather turns for the winter.

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dfc4me
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by dfc4me » Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:12 am

Rumour I heard was that the grounds man quit because he wanted to follow the maintenance plan provided by the company that laid the pitch but the rugby club wouldn’t let him.

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loan_star
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by loan_star » Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:31 am

dfc4me wrote:
Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:12 am
Rumour I heard was that the grounds man quit because he wanted to follow the maintenance plan provided by the company that laid the pitch but the rugby club wouldn’t let him.
Its what I have heard too.

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HarrytheQuaker
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by HarrytheQuaker » Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:39 am

dfc4me wrote:Rumour I heard was that the grounds man quit because he wanted to follow the maintenance plan provided by the company that laid the pitch but the rugby club wouldn’t let him.
Stop stirring ... What a load of shite they would nt let him follow the maintenance plan

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loan_star
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by loan_star » Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:44 am

HarrytheQuaker wrote:
Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:39 am
dfc4me wrote:Rumour I heard was that the grounds man quit because he wanted to follow the maintenance plan provided by the company that laid the pitch but the rugby club wouldn’t let him.
Stop stirring ... What a load of shite they would nt let him follow the maintenance plan

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Re: BM - Surface

Post by QUAKERMAN2 » Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:46 pm

HarrytheQuaker wrote:
dfc4me wrote:Rumour I heard was that the grounds man quit because he wanted to follow the maintenance plan provided by the company that laid the pitch but the rugby club wouldn’t let him.
Stop stirring ... What a load of shite they would nt let him follow the maintenance plan

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H1987
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by H1987 » Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:42 pm

But why wouldn’t they let him follow a maintenance plan? It doesn’t make any sense?

I don’t buy any conspiracy around it. I blame general incompetence, that has probably been well intentioned. It literally makes no sense at all that they would deliberately knack their own pitch, but it needs some sensible intervention. Right now, it’s not suitable for rugby, let alone football.

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Quaker85
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by Quaker85 » Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:57 pm

H1987 wrote:But why wouldn’t they let him follow a maintenance plan? It doesn’t make any sense?

I don’t buy any conspiracy around it. I blame general incompetence, that has probably been well intentioned. It literally makes no sense at all that they would deliberately knack their own pitch, but it needs some sensible intervention. Right now, it’s not suitable for rugby, let alone football.
Well the first thought I had would be the cost of doing so. Maybe they thought they could cut corners?

We should be told though.


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Re: BM - Surface

Post by Darlopartisan » Fri Jul 12, 2019 2:58 pm

We can have a moan about catering, bar staff and other stuff about our landlords but this is one of the fundamentals for the football club, we paid a lot of money for that pitch and drainage, if it isn’t getting spiked/aerated it will soon compact down rendering the drainage useless and come the autumn we will see the dreaded Game off water logged pitch, a bit of rain now might green it up but that won’t help what’s going on underneath.

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loan_star
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by loan_star » Fri Jul 12, 2019 6:23 pm

Maybe they think the money we provide for the upkeep is enough so they don't have to contribute since the game they play doesn't need a good flat surface.

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HarrytheQuaker
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by HarrytheQuaker » Fri Jul 12, 2019 7:18 pm

loan_star wrote:
HarrytheQuaker wrote:
Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:39 am
dfc4me wrote:Rumour I heard was that the grounds man quit because he wanted to follow the maintenance plan provided by the company that laid the pitch but the rugby club wouldn’t let him.
Stop stirring ... What a load of shite they would nt let him follow the maintenance plan

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Well you believe any old shite

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loan_star
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by loan_star » Fri Jul 12, 2019 8:26 pm

HarrytheQuaker wrote:
Fri Jul 12, 2019 7:18 pm

Well you believe any old shite
Could well say the same about you.

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Re: BM - Surface

Post by quakersfan » Sat Jul 13, 2019 6:06 am

Chatting to a DRFC member last night in town, about £8k has been spent in the close season on the pitch and DFC pay 50% of that. If the pitch isn’t right then we should complain to whoever from DFC oversees the work. Matty has gone but not for the reasons in this thread apparently.
TBH I think we need a statement from the board to clarify this and put the speculation to bed.

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Re: BM - Surface

Post by poppyfield » Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:01 am

I honestly don't think anything has been done to the pitch, if you in any doubt just compare the pitch from the same preseason fixture last year to this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQm01xJjFJg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJH3Vl5 ... 9&index=49
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ex-exile
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Re: BM - Surface

Post by ex-exile » Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:20 am

poppyfield wrote:
Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:01 am
I honestly don't think anything has been done to the pitch, if you in any doubt just compare the pitch from the same preseason fixture last year to this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQm01xJjFJg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJH3Vl5 ... 9&index=49
Two points to note
The pitch does not look to have been fertilised this summer to encourage growth and spread of the grasses on the pitch.
It does not look as if it has been cut much either, because fertiliser plus a weekly cut would have produced a far better surface
Obviously watering would have helped.

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Re: BM - Surface

Post by H1987 » Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:22 am

We can’t just go around demanding statements from the board about minor things.

The pitch was dry and knackered looking for one pre-season game. I’m sure it hasn’t escaped the boards notice, and would trust they are actively seeking to rectify it. Presumably by trying to cultivate a positive relationship with the rugby club, not by mud slinging

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Re: BM - Surface

Post by Quaker85 » Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:34 am

H1987 wrote:We can’t just go around demanding statements from the board about minor things.

The pitch was dry and knackered looking for one pre-season game. I’m sure it hasn’t escaped the boards notice, and would trust they are actively seeking to rectify it. Presumably by trying to cultivate a positive relationship with the rugby club, not by mud slinging
No danger of any mud slinging on this pitch Image

Obviously relations with our landlord is important but this is not a trivial matter. It needs addressing ASAP.


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Re: BM - Surface

Post by Darlofan97 » Sat Jul 13, 2019 10:03 am

H1987 wrote:
Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:22 am
We can’t just go around demanding statements from the board about minor things.

The pitch was dry and knackered looking for one pre-season game. I’m sure it hasn’t escaped the boards notice, and would trust they are actively seeking to rectify it. Presumably by trying to cultivate a positive relationship with the rugby club, not by mud slinging
But it isn’t a minor thing.

The club asked the fans to raise £xx,xxxx towards a new pitch & drainage system, with matched funding, however it appears that our investment has been neglected significantly over the past few months (and I’m not saying the football club is at fault).

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Re: BM - Surface

Post by jjljks » Wed Jul 17, 2019 8:03 pm

Surely it is a landlord's responsibility to maintain their property and if this is not happening in the case of the pitch, then they are in breach of their contract and liable for damage / losses incurred?

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Re: BM - Surface

Post by quakersfan » Wed Jul 17, 2019 8:34 pm

As I mentioned in the thread earlier after speaking to John Tempest last season he parked his car daily in the close season so to speak to make sure the Pitch was up to scratch. After speaking to DRFC there’s no one present daily anymore checking on the daily issues, not a Critiscim but there appears to be no one in the ground daily anymore.

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Re: BM - Surface

Post by eddie-rowles » Thu Jul 18, 2019 7:19 am

Let us stop worrying about this I'm 100% certain AA made note and has action in place as he looks to prevent silly injuries.

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Re: BM - Surface

Post by D_F_C » Thu Jul 18, 2019 11:33 am

I'd heard that the pitch just needs a good shower on it and it'll play fine. Think it needs to be assessed in the upcoming friendlies before we start with all the accusations

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