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Good target man Rob, he will bring others into play, also adding further experience to the team.

Pitch inspection at 11.0

GAME OFF

title amended, pitch must be really bad

No rain since yesterday afternoon/ none forecast and apparently groundstaff working hard on it!

Didn't expect this.Much drier today though there was rain/wintery showers last night.Seems like we will need a prolonged dry spell for the pitch to dry out.Not good for cash flow and advantage of two home games in a row gone.Wonder what the prospects for Wrexham match on Saturday are,given there's more rain due expected between now and then?

Gives more time to get the squad increased !

https://www.pitchcare.com/shop/covers/f ... cover.html

Anyone got a spare £27600?

I am not surprised. Most of the Golf Clubs in South Devon are closed for play. At Teignmouth Golf Club ,which is open, only 14 holes in play and all but 2 on temporary greens.

Many have never seen the ground so saturated. It is frustrating but we cannot control the weather. Hopefully the work planned to tackle the pitch this summer will improve the situation in the future.

The Plainmoor pitch has been there for around 100 years, and still the club didn't bother to take sufficient action over the years to prevent it being waterlogged, presumably because of the cost (not that it would have cost that much). Yet the club in recent years unwisely spent money on Seal Hayne pitches - which also got waterlogged!

Of course, none of this can be laid at the feet of the present board who, with near zero finances, have been making generally good decisions in these matters: Seal Hayne, Torquay Academy, Truro City. Next season should see a much improved pitch and fewer postponements, together with a Gulls squad in a much fitter state to compete and make a serious challenge.

We might even have a good run in this season's FA Trophy! Roll on Saturday..

Given that the pitch apparently sits on a layer of clay is there anything to be done to properly fix the drainage issue once and for all? It may be that a cover on the pitch when heavy rain is forecast is the only option.

Another called off, Must be a disgrace big time

DJ Gull wrote:Another called off, Must be a disgrace big time

Damn you, for stealing my thunder!

You have to be a bit careful with all this talk of pitch covers. The way people on here go in you think they would solve all our problems, never having another postponement.

In reality the amount we would have to spend on covers to make a real difference is probably more than the cost of remedial work on the pitch in the first place.

Firstly, water does get absorbed laterally as well as vertically. I.e if you cover an area that is badly affected, it could still waterlog if adjacent areas receive large amounts of rainfall.

Secondly, covers obviously mean that moisture will be retained in the pitch as it can't escape. So if the ground gets wet it can't dry, making the problem worse than better.

It's no doubt that an extremely expensive set of covers, including flat sheets and roll on roll off "pitch roof" types, along with the assosciated guttering, hoses and pipe work to remove water, would make a difference, but you're probably talking near £100000 to guarantee no postponements, and you would probably have to factor in staff costs, as laying all this equipment is more than a one man job.

The amount of covers we could afford would probably make such a little amount of difference to whether a game is postponed or not it would probably not be worth it, in my opinion. Far better to do as the club have suggested, and pay for remedial works to improve drainage.

divingbboy wrote:
Damn you, for stealing my thunder!

Couldn't resist! :na:

Article in the Herald suggests that the Groundshare with Truro will generate £60k of which £30k> will be spent in the summer on improving the drainage of the pitch.

On those calculations there will be c.£30k of additional cash available.

I assume that each club keeps the gate receipts for their own matches? If that is the case, does anyone know if each club is responsible for their own match day costs (e.g. stewards/policing etc.) ?

If Torquay receives the £60k as "rent" will the board need to factor in ongoing running costs for the Truro match days e.g. utilities?

Trying to understand if this arrangement will result in a significant amount of cash being left over, after ground improvements, in Torquays favour, or if some/most/all of the remaining monies will be required to cover the costs of running 50+ games per season