Tuesday 22 April 2014

Spending Ritchie's Hard Earned

We all have additional spending projects we'd like to see implemented by the Club.  Some would like to see more hard standing at Latimer Park, allowing us to, ahem, have supporters on all four sides of the ground.  Others would like to see some actual terracing to ensure everyone can clearly see the game.  Or some more cover so we have more than hope every time we have a dodgy forecast. Ritchie himself has indicated the need for some sort of facility for attracting sponsors.

All of these are worthy of funding, should it be available.  Yes, additional hard-standing would be welcome.  As would some genuine terracing, preferably covered.  And yes, if we are going to attract a better class of supporter, they really should have a separate area to keep them away from us riff-raff.

But, if Ritchie really has a few bob to burn he could do a lot worse than sort out the surface at Latimer Park.  It must be incredibly difficult, as a player, to try to play any sort of football whilst staring intently at their feet and willing the ball not to bobble up onto their ankle, knee or hip.  Football often is reduced to hoofball simply because it is too dangerous or difficult to play the ball on the ground.

If it rains for an afternoon the pitch is flooded.  If the sun comes out the pitch becomes a dust-bowl.  We have a bunch of footballers who can actually play a bit of football.  And yet they spend more time being challenged by their own pitch than they are by the opposition!

I'm no groundsman but surely something could be done to flatten out our pitch?  Heavily watered and then heavily rolled?  Would that hurt?  Just filling in the holes might be a start?

The club are doing most things right, and getting the rewards of success and increasing gates.  I worry this momentum might be lost if people get disenchanted with having the football on show dictated by the luck of the bounce as much as anything else. 


Even Dubi can't guarantee close control every time
on the bobbly Latimer Park surface

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