Flooded Pitches

[jaycarter]

On Saturday 9th December 2023 5 League 2 games were called off because of flooding, with the pattern of weather indicating this may be the norm every year is it not time the E.F.L. which is awash with money gave clubs like these the money to install really good drainage systems to avoid this, you can see sometime soon the clubs will get a letter from the E.F.L. saying they have to improve the drainage but most clubs cannot afford such improvements, Barrow I know have tried to improve theirs but you cannot expect the owners to keep on financing things like this, come on E.F.L. give the clubs the money to do this now.

[McMark]

We are a business at the end of the day and as a business you need to speculate to accumulate in most instances. However in this instance the club needed to speculate so we didn’t accumulate and become bogged down with the potential of a fixture backlog further down the line.

[Jim]

I seem to recall that, last season or the one before, I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the pitch stood up to a match played after a lot of heavy rain. I do think it has had investment and, at some time in the recent past (after promtion perhaps?), the pitch was relaid with better drains, so I don't think we can blame the owners for neglecting it.

When you have Storm Erin followed the next day by Storm Fergus, things are obviously getting a bit difficult to manage, no matter how hard you try.

[Main Stand SeasonTct]

Unlike the last three pre seasons no substantial investment was made on the playing surface during pre-season due to the substantial cost of upgrading the ground to meet efl requirements. Previously the pitch has been completely re-seeded prior to the start of the last three seasons. Unfortunately in conjunction with one of the wettest autumn on record and the lack of investment in the playing surface in the summer the club is fighting to keep the surface as best as they can

[MisterPleasant]

One of those 5 postponements was at Bradford, a Premier league side when we were languishing 5/6 leagues lower. Which is the one that could/should have made the investment?

[Suffolk Blue]

One of those 5 postponements was at Bradford, a Premier league side when we were languishing 5/6 leagues lower. Which is the one that could/should have made the investment?

I think that this is a very good point. If you look at the geographical spread of the postponements on Saturday they were spread across the North, Midlands and West. This is more than just a local issue.

These weather events seem to be more intense and frequent than ever and you can only see these interruptions getting worse. Looking at our schedule over Xmas and the
New Year you have to wonder how many of those fixtures will actually happen given the outline forecast.

[Main Stand SeasonTct]

One of those 5 postponements was at Bradford, a Premier league side when we were languishing 5/6 leagues lower. Which is the one that could/should have made the investment?

I think that this is a very good point. If you look at the geographical spread of the postponements on Saturday they were spread across the North, Midlands and West. This is more than just a local issue.

These weather events seem to be more intense and frequent than ever and you can only see these interruptions getting worse. Looking at our schedule over Xmas and the
New Year you have to wonder how many of those fixtures will actually happen given the outline forecast.

Given the ridiculous amount of fixtures over xmas I don't think there would be many complaints from either side should the Accrington home game be called off on the 29th.

[Hadrian]

Those looking to sustain the club financially may be less than happy to have more income lost and deferred as a result of a further postponement.

[jaycarter]

I think most of you have not grasped the point I was making, I was not saying the club should have invested and was not criticising the owners I know they had a lot of work done on drainage in the first year back in the league and more done later, I was pointing out the changes in the weather which it seems is going to be the norm, so if the E.F.L. who I know do not like postponements help the clubs with the worst problems.

[Jonty]

I think most of you have not grasped the point I was making, I was not saying the club should have invested and was not criticising the owners I know they had a lot of work done on drainage in the first year back in the league and more done later, I was pointing out the changes in the weather which it seems is going to be the norm, so if the E.F.L. who I know do not like postponements help the clubs with the worst problems.

Agree 100%. But ultimately more money needs to come down the food chain from the Premier League.

skimming the top off and reseeding isnt going to fix the underlying problem with the primary drainage can’t cope with the amount of rain we get.

[200miles]

The whole area is boulder clay. The adjoining pond is a clay pit, dug out for the old brickworks. Unless very deep boreholes are made to drain to underlying porous layers then I would think the only answer is a system that can pump water away.

[Sea Dog Sam]

On the subject of flooding and rain. Does anybody remember our evening home fixture against Southport in the old League Cup? Early 1970s? The pitch was so bad that the ball actually got stuck in the mud in the goal mouth area. This allowed Tony Field (ex Barrow AFC) to take his time and calmly slot it into the net. Always remember Field looking up at us gathered on the Holker End as he slotted it home. He didn't celebrate the goal. Always admired him for that.

I wonder if the game would have been played in the current era?

[pjdaly]

SDS, I can't recall that particular Field goal that you mention (even though I am sure I will have been there). However, I do recall another Field tap-in from one yard out which was all down to a flooded Holker Street goalmouth. It came in our 3-2 win against Crewe in late April 1967. Trailing 1-2 at half-time, Barrow needed to win this one against Crewe who were chasing us for a promotion slot. Early in the second half, Malcolm Edwards fired a low skimming rocket towards the Holker Street goal. It cannoned off the inside of the upright and stopped dead in a pool of water one yard from the line. Tony Field had the simple task of following up and tapping it over the line. The thing is, anybody who remembers Malcolm Edwards will remember he had a ferocious left foot. For my money, I've never seen a Barrow player who could strike the ball with the power that Edwards could. If that same scenario had happened on a dry pitch the ball might well have flown out towards the touch-line underneath the old stand for a Crewe throw-in, such was the ferocity of an Edwards pile-driver.

We went on to win 3-2 and we went on to beat Crewe to the promotion places. We can speculate but we can never know for sure . . . but for that pool of water that trapped Edwards's deadly strike, allowing for the Field equaliser, we might have lost that match that night and we might never have been promoted to the 3rd Division! So, maybe we sometimes owe a debt to bad weather and old mud-heaps of pitches! I once remarked that, had it been possible, we should have framed that pool of water for posterity and mounted it on the clubhouse wall as it might well have won us promotion back in 1966-67!