numpty Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...Park-pitch.html Motherwell face fine over state of Fir Park pitch The appalling, Somme-like playing surface at Fir Park has compelled the Scottish Premier League to conduct an independent investigation into Motherwell FC for the second time in 12 months. By Ewing Grahame Published: 11:00PM GMT 22 Feb 2010 In February of last year the Lanarkshire club managed to avoid punishment from the governing body after a series of postponements caused by their inadequate pitch. “[it] doesn’t reflect well on the SPL and the criteria we set for high standards,” said SPL secretary Ian Blair at the time. “It’s not of an acceptable standard and it’s an embarrassment to have matches called off there when they should be able to be played. “They will need to bring their playing surface back to a high standard and we will send in a suitably qualified individual to make sure the work has been carried out to our satisfaction.” Motherwell reportedly then spent £250,000 in order to upgrade their undersoil heating system and instal new drains during the close season. They also elected to play their Europa League qualifying matches at neighbouring Airdrie United's Excelsior Stadium in July and August in order to give their newl- laid turf time to settle. It meant they didn't have to pay the £20,000 suspended fine the SPL handed down to them last year but now they could be brought to book. The dreadful condition of Fir Park not only works against teams (like Motherwell) who attempt to play a passing game but also increases the possibility of injury to players, making it a potential health and safety issue. “Part of our membership criteria involves clubs having to deliver a pitch of a certain standard,” said SPL communications director Greig Mailer. “Clearly the current state of the surface at Fir Park is a concern for us and we have asked the club to produce details of what has been done and what is being done in that regard. “We have also employed an independent expert to examine the pitch and give us his opinion on it. I don't want to second-guess what the outcome of that will be because we are going through that process at the moment. “The SPL board met last Thursday and won't meet again for another 3-4 weeks but this matter will be decided before then because this is high up on our agenda. “We need to determine whether or not Motherwell have been in breach of our rules and whether or not they could have done more to prevent the current state of affairs. “There are questions which we need answers to but our main aim is to improve that surface and to ensure that games can be played on it.” Motherwell's failure to solve the problem means they could be fined or even face a points deduction. “There is a range of sanctions open for the board to implement but we'll wait until we have all the information we need,” said Mailer. St Johnstone's late cancellation of their match against Rangers due to part of McDiarmid Park being frozen will be discussed at March's SPL board meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfc Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 havin seen the highlights the night hateley was lucky no to be badly injured when his foot went down a hole and he lew into the wall beside the dugouts.i doubt well escape a fine this time and to be honest we deserve it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motherwell Football Club Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 So Killies will be getting looked at tae? thats just as bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gav212 Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Aye and i presume that St Johnstone will also be under investigation over the call offs they have had? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazilian Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 So Killies will be getting looked at tae? thats just as bad. In your opinion, doubt many will agree that it is just as bad other pitches aren't very good but ours is verging on dangerous at times, IMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted February 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 So Killies will be getting looked at tae? thats just as bad. Whether it is or not, they're not also living under a suspended fine for previous persistent pitch crapness. We were given the chance to put it right, and failed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted February 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Aye and i presume that St Johnstone will also be under investigation over the call offs they have had? Yep: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/...86908-22058776/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motherwell Football Club Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Whether it is or not, they're not also living under a suspended fine for previous persistent pitch crapness. Well surely the SPL take part blame for the shenanigans with Gretna. Its the clubs fault for seemingly having inept or non existant groundstaff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 The pitch, whilst in no great condition, has been deemed playable by every official so far this season, this seems a whole load of nonsense to me, until it causes a game to be called off then it's fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haggischomper Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 The appalling, Somme-like playing surface at Fir Park I'll tell you what is appaling is this low-life scumbag comapring the state of a football pitch to battlefield where thousands upon thousands of young men gave their life in the quest for who knows what. Fucking wank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WellAyrshire Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Ewing Grahame gets pished, makes up stories, passes it off as news and gets away with it. Apart from the time he was caught out and got sacked from the herald when covering a european game. Also here's Greg Mailers phone number 0141 620 4147 I would phone him but i'm still out the country with no access to a phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigeeze Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Will Dundee Utd als be fined after the game with Rangers being called off at half time as the park could not cope with some rain. And then having the cheek to want to charge fans admission to the rescheduled game? (full price too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonesy Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 I'd expect Aberdeen to be investigated as well as the others mentioned. Their pitch is in a terrible state. Most of the pitches in the league are in a similar state, but we are being picked on because we have previous. Some might say that's meritted, but surely they must be able to spot that there seem to be a common recurrence throughout the country. It’s not of an acceptable standard and it’s an embarrassment to have matches called off there when they should be able to be played. So the 1 game we have had postponed this season, due to burst pipes in the stands and fuck all to do with the pitch, makes the pitch an embarrasment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatcalf Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 I still maintain the undersoil heating is the biggest factor in everyone's pitch problems so when the SPL start their inquiry they might want to look inwards at their 'membership criteria' first, which incidentally now seems to have changed to "deliver a pitch of a certain standard." That's a new yin. Methinks they make it up as they go along that mob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Diggle Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 We have the worst pitch in the league by a distance. Other pitches are poor but we can't use that as our defence. We're not being picked on, we're being scrutinised for several years of poor quality playing surface - and we know that this was the case - we're on a suspended fine. Other clubs (with the exception of The Saintees who may need to go before the beaks) will argue, like Killie and hackies did last year that they have experienced isolated incidents. Games have gone ahead on our pitch as it hasn't been waterlogged or frozen but it's hard to argue that it's NOT the most unsafe pitch in the league. I'm of the opinion that our pitch is 'technically' permanently unplayable. IF the article is true - there are a couple of points - The SPL had an independent expert watch every step of the £350K that we spent in the summer - so that part of the investigation should be pretty easy - we cant be taken to task for not doing the work. So if true they'll be looking at what we've done to the park since then. Something that many on here have been questioning but the club maintain has been carried out to the letter of Greentech's instructions. it may be an investigation into the competency of our ground staff. Like I posted in the Green Green Grass thread - we might have to bite the bullet and go for a full returf after the Killie game on Sat - with only one game scheduled in March. i.e. weigh up the benefit of spending money on a returf under our own steam against waiting for the £25K fine to kick in and then having to returf anyway. I don't think we've got any defence - we've brought this on ourselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggayal0 Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Well surely the SPL take part blame for the shenanigans with Gretna. Its the clubs fault for seemingly having inept or non existant groundstaff. The SPL will take no blame over us ground sharing with Gretna, it was our choice to take money from gretna to let them play at Fir Park, no ones fault but ours!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonesy Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 The SPL will take no blame over us ground sharing with Gretna, it was our choice to take money from gretna to let them play at Fir Park, no ones fault but ours!!!!! I think he was talking about the state of their finances and the fact they had to be bailed out by the league to complete their fixtures. Edit: Plus it was the SPL's rules that forced Gretna into a ground share anyway. If it hadn't been us then the problems would just have been transferred to Killie or whereever they were forced to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milo Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Possible points deduction?! Surely tae fuck not?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underboyleheating Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 We have the worst pitch in the league by a distance. I don't think we've got any defence - we've brought this on ourselves. +1 No excuses. It’s a complete and utter shambles. Unless it’s sorted asap the Fir Park pitch should be ‘turfed out’ the SPL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welldel Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 We spent £350 k on repairing and replacing the pitch at the end of last season. The weather in January and the necesssary use of the undersoil heating basically killed the grass. What could we have done differently ? That said it is a mess and needs to be relayed asap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoF Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Am I the only one that thinks we've got nothing to worry about? I'm confident the report will come back saying there was nothing more we could have done. The pitch simply wasn't ready to cope with -8C every night for 3 weeks. As for those questioning the groundstaffs competence, do you reall think they still be here if they were the problem? Boyle doesn't seem the type let someone away with blowing a £350K investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Diggle Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Am I the only one that thinks we've got nothing to worry about? I'm confident the report will come back saying there was nothing more we could have done. The pitch simply wasn't ready to cope with -8C every night for 3 weeks. As for those questioning the groundstaffs competence, do you reall think they still be here if they were the problem? Boyle doesn't seem the type let someone away with blowing a £350K investment. On the other hand, firing the groundstaff would alert the SPL to a problem. The SPL already know in terms of replacing the old pitch we've done way more than enough - their expert was there all through the work in the summer. So that's a given and closed off. So what else could they really be investigating - if it's not to see whether or not we've blown our investment through incompetence. I'm with fatcalf - undersoil heating is a major problem and is contributing to poor pitches all over the place. we seem to have done something extra special though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnstone Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 we seem to have done something extra special though Could be due to it being a brand new pitch it has made the problem even more apparant? Everyone else in the SPL has had their pitch for a longer period of time so has had a chance to 'bed in' The fact remains if we continue to have winters like we have had then there is really no choice, we have to change the dates we play football. As you and Fatcalf have mentioned, under soil heating seems to make things worse. I suppose its nature we are fighting against, which is never really a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybug Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Its obvious to all that the pitch is terrible, we don't seem to be able too fix it in the short term, As its "our" fault we need to be seen as trying to be pro-active in solutions instead of waiting on the SPL giving us a fine the only solution is to play games at Hamilton/Airdrie or wherever until its fixed. The club will need to take the hit financially , therefore surely we can come to an agreement with the SPL that any monies that were to be given as a potential fine are used as a cost to take our support to these games. My opinion only! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uraclown Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 So it's no longer the referee's decision on whether a park is playable or not? regardless of my opinion or anyone elses opinion on the state of the park, every referee this season has said that it is in a good enough condition to play a match. So where the fuck do the SPL get the right to decide that it is not? what exactly is a pitch of a "certain standard" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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