Views from the Sieve

Last week a number of our fans and our team set out on a pointless trip to South Wales.

Can not believe that whilst watching Sky Sports News tonight they were playing egg chasing on the same pitch today causing untold damage to the playing surface.

Looking at the state of it I would not be surprised if they don't play on it again until our rearranged gig on March 19th.

The same scenes was evident at both Wycombe , Bristol Rovers and Notts County.

You can spend fortunes on a policy of recruiting and training Coaches you can also demand Clubs spend a quarter of their years playing budget on Floodlights (altho some rules don't appear to be evenly applied) but surely you should demand that the Playing surface is kept in the best possible condition.

Ok allow Grounds to be used as duel purpose venues however The Football League should be taking steps , legislate and fine Clubs who obviously can not produce a decent playing surface by going down this route.

I will not be rushing out to book advanced travel arrangements for the rearranged game at Newport as any sudden downpour will put the game at risk again.

Hope we got well compensated for the Expense we incurred last week as it was clearly obvious that once there was above average rainfall the game never stood a chance of being played.

2 bloody rugby teams play on the pitch! It's a joke how this should be allowed

I fail to see how rugby being played on it increases the chances of a waterlogged pitch

It's not the point that its rugby teams. It's just being played on constantly, so there isn't the right recovery time for the pitch. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-sout ... s-23587323

The FA warned them about this at the start of the season... and have subsequently done nothing with all the games that have been postponed since

But am I right in thinking the matches have been called off due to water-logging, not just the pitch being in a bad state?

You are correct, but it surely cant help that the pitch has no time to recover and hence the reason why it gets waterlogged so easy.

Even on a dry pitch the condition of it remains one of concern owing to the damage done to it.

Simply not fair to expect any team to go there and attempt to play in a way the FA want their Coaches to teach young kids how they want the game played.

Which ever way you want to slice it the situation at Newport County and a number of other places is becoming unacceptable.

Have to admit I think Chris had a point, specifically this a major problem with Newport but it does also apply to other grounds as well. Saw yesterday that Newport Gwent Dragons were playing a rugby game on it when the heavens opened, and it churned the pitch up to make it even worse for the football there on Tuesday night.

In the long run it'll do Newport up as they'll have such a backlog of games, (already at 3 postponed at home I think), but in the short term it's unfair on those travelling to the game from the away side. You can't legislate for rain, but rugby teams playing on the pitch just makes it even worse.

Wonder if it'll get to a situation where Newport have to do what Gateshead did last season and play there games elsewhere?

SUSSEX DAGGER wrote:You are correct, but it surely cant help that the pitch has no time to recover and hence the reason why it gets waterlogged so easy.

Even on a dry pitch the condition of it remains one of concern owing to the damage done to it.

Simply not fair to expect any team to go there and attempt to play in a way the FA want their Coaches to teach young kids how they want the game played.

Which ever way you want to slice it the situation at Newport County and a number of other places is becoming unacceptable.

Surely it gets waterlogged easily because the drainage wasn't completed? Playing on it a lot won't stop it draining, it will just churn it up, which is different.

Whether its fair or not on teams wanting to play football is irrelevant. Teams don't have to provide conditions that suit the opposition.

Daggers No 2 Fan wrote:

SUSSEX DAGGER wrote:You are correct, but it surely cant help that the pitch has no time to recover and hence the reason why it gets waterlogged so easy.

Even on a dry pitch the condition of it remains one of concern owing to the damage done to it.

Simply not fair to expect any team to go there and attempt to play in a way the FA want their Coaches to teach young kids how they want the game played.

Which ever way you want to slice it the situation at Newport County and a number of other places is becoming unacceptable.

Surely it gets waterlogged easily because the drainage wasn't completed? Playing on it a lot won't stop it draining, it will just churn it up, which is different.

Whether its fair or not on teams wanting to play football is irrelevant. Teams don't have to provide conditions that suit the opposition.

That's my thinking too

Another postponement tonight at Newport.

The rights and wrongs of weather excessive use causes half of their problems is a matter of opinion.

Just hope that hard pressed supporters bear this in mind and booking advance cheap travel for March 19th may not be the best idea given the current situation.

Joke club,surprised edinburgh has stayed this long.

When will they make up all the lost games?

Saw a picture of their pitch and one half is fine while the other is riddled with puddles - clearly the half-done drainage work from the Summer that is causing the current situation.

Newport's latest game v Fleetwood - schedule for tonight ................. POSTPONED!

Their back log is getting bigger & bigger all the time!!