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New State-of-the-art Pitch at The Valley
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I saw one of these machines in action or something very similar. The operator explained there was a bit of an issue to resolve regarding the length of the artificial blades . Because the FIFA Women’s World Cup were going to have a team based on the pitch and required a certain length. But meanwhile the local Phoenix men’s A League team needed it a different Length. Not sure if the women’s and men’s game is played on the same length in England, but one assumes that’s all been considered. It doesn’t grow back of course.0
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Will be interesting to see how the pitch holds up with men’s and women’s matches on it, I thought our pitch this season looked all right by the end of the season, but it’s obviously not up to the job to having men’s and women’s football on it, I have never been to a women’s football match, as I don’t have daughters, if it was a big match I probably would go along to the valley, to see how the women get on.
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Am I missing something. I thought the article just said six figures?Rothko said:
It's not £100k, can't be, at a minimum you're looking at around £500kvalleynick66 said:Interesting dynamic on the size of the grant versus what we put in 750 v 100.No brainer I guess.Perhaps the 100k is further offset by staging the Women’s fixtures at the Valley instead of elsewhere with associated cost.As long as the pitch holds up it’s all good news.
id assume if they were stomping up £500k you’d say so for the PR spin. To me 6 figures means it’s close to £100k as you’d find different wording if substantially more.5 -
Pretty sure Rothko works in the industry and will know the rules.I valleynick66 said:
Am I missing something. I thought the article just said six figures?Rothko said:
It's not £100k, can't be, at a minimum you're looking at around £500kvalleynick66 said:Interesting dynamic on the size of the grant versus what we put in 750 v 100.No brainer I guess.Perhaps the 100k is further offset by staging the Women’s fixtures at the Valley instead of elsewhere with associated cost.As long as the pitch holds up it’s all good news.
id assume if they were stomping up £500k you’d say so for the PR spin. To me 6 figures means it’s close to £100k as you’d find different wording if substantially more.0 -
Yeah, ex-Sport England, so dished out a few funding packages with the Football Foundation.Stu_of_Kunming said:
Pretty sure Rothko works in the industry and will know the rules.I valleynick66 said:
Am I missing something. I thought the article just said six figures?Rothko said:
It's not £100k, can't be, at a minimum you're looking at around £500kvalleynick66 said:Interesting dynamic on the size of the grant versus what we put in 750 v 100.No brainer I guess.Perhaps the 100k is further offset by staging the Women’s fixtures at the Valley instead of elsewhere with associated cost.As long as the pitch holds up it’s all good news.
id assume if they were stomping up £500k you’d say so for the PR spin. To me 6 figures means it’s close to £100k as you’d find different wording if substantially more.
It's usually 70% funding, and in the odd case the FF will/can fund the lot, but not usually at EFL level, or a Premier League aligned WSL team, where the beneficial party is the Men's team in the main (23 games v 10).
The bid would have gone in via the Women's team as they are the eligible receiving organisation, the men's club couldn't apply. I think, but haven't seen the revised rule, that it would also need to include undersoil heating, so the club would need to fund what's needed to make it work now.
I know the club went in for this under Sandgaard but the rules then were for a 15 year lease, and they were changed to 10 years this season, so the club could apply.14 -
Ok thank you.Rothko said:
Yeah, ex-Sport England, so dished out a few funding packages with the Football Foundation.Stu_of_Kunming said:
Pretty sure Rothko works in the industry and will know the rules.I valleynick66 said:
Am I missing something. I thought the article just said six figures?Rothko said:
It's not £100k, can't be, at a minimum you're looking at around £500kvalleynick66 said:Interesting dynamic on the size of the grant versus what we put in 750 v 100.No brainer I guess.Perhaps the 100k is further offset by staging the Women’s fixtures at the Valley instead of elsewhere with associated cost.As long as the pitch holds up it’s all good news.
id assume if they were stomping up £500k you’d say so for the PR spin. To me 6 figures means it’s close to £100k as you’d find different wording if substantially more.
It's usually 70% funding, and in the odd case the FF will/can fund the lot, but not usually at EFL level, or a Premier League aligned WSL team, where the beneficial party is the Men's team in the main (23 games v 10).
The bid would have gone in via the Women's team as they are the eligible receiving organisation, the men's club couldn't apply. I think, but haven't seen the revised rule, that it would also need to include undersoil heating, so the club would need to fund what's needed to make it work now.
I know the club went in for this under Sandgaard but the rules then were for a 15 year lease, and they were changed to 10 years this season, so the club could apply.
Strange then the article doesn’t ’brag’ more about how much we are investing and also it will mean we enjoy under soil heating too.
Surely more PR opportunity to state that when we are in parallel pushing season tickets.1 -
if they 'brag' about how much they are spending on the pitch then no doubt some will complain that they aren't spending it on the squad instead - can't win.
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To a degree you are right as we are naturally cautious.Elthamaddick said:if they 'brag' about how much they are spending on the pitch then no doubt some will complain that they aren't spending it on the squad instead - can't win.But there is a sizeable difference between 100k and 500k when you are trying to sell season tickets and convince sceptics (like me!) the owners really are here for the longer term.Perhaps we will find out in due course or perhaps not.What is good though is that such grants exist at all.3 -
Whatever money is or isn’t being put in, it’s great to have some proper planning going on.33
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The article is slightly misleading. It's true that the pitch is going to be enhanced at great expense. She it's also true that the women's first team will be playing home league games at The Valley.
What the article omits is that, because of the constraints on the recruitment budget for the coming season, it's actually the men's first team fixtures that the women's team will be playing.8 - Sponsored links:
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So my takeaway from this is despite what everyone says, length does matter between men and women.KiwiValley said:I saw one of these machines in action or something very similar. The operator explained there was a bit of an issue to resolve regarding the length of the artificial blades . Because the FIFA Women’s World Cup were going to have a team based on the pitch and required a certain length. But meanwhile the local Phoenix men’s A League team needed it a different Length. Not sure if the women’s and men’s game is played on the same length in England, but one assumes that’s all been considered. It doesn’t grow back of course.5 -
The investment is great but as others have said, it’s the forward planning that’s most heartening.
If the recruitment follows suit it sounds like we’re genuinely in for a promising season.3 -
This is a very good question.valleynick66 said:It’s obviously good news but what does this mean ‘the most cohesive and sustainable community-driven club in the UK’? 🤔0 -
I've often found that women tend to misjudge length quite badly. 10 inches often appears as no more than 5 to them. Odd.KiwiValley said:I saw one of these machines in action or something very similar. The operator explained there was a bit of an issue to resolve regarding the length of the artificial blades . Because the FIFA Women’s World Cup were going to have a team based on the pitch and required a certain length. But meanwhile the local Phoenix men’s A League team needed it a different Length. Not sure if the women’s and men’s game is played on the same length in England, but one assumes that’s all been considered. It doesn’t grow back of course.5 -
I'm trying to find a way to be negative about this. I will get back to you all.17
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I wish someone would buy this lot a thesaurus. Not everything has to be “elite”.Good news about the pitch, though.3
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then we'll need a midfielder to pass the opposition to death on it .. super investment and a very positive sign of commitment from the new ownership group and the Premier League0
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Good news and shows there's long term positivity about us still being at The Valley. It still concerns me that old yellowtooth holds the deeds.4
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A Desso pitch is a hybrid grass pitch that combines natural grass with artificial turf fibres12. The artificial fibres are injected 20cm deep into the soil and help to reduce wear and tear on the natural grass1. A Desso pitch provides a stable and durable playing surface for sports such as rugby12. The rugby pitch at Twickenham is an example of a Desso pitch2.
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Don't know what type of pitch/turf they use but several clubs (e.g. Wigan, Bristol City) also use their grounds for professional rugby (either code) and the pitches look to wear very well .. be interesting to find out more about maintenance and if 'dodgy' parts of the pitch can be easily replaced, if at all.Mendonca In Asdas said:Will be interesting to see how the pitch holds up with men’s and women’s matches on it, I thought our pitch this season looked all right by the end of the season, but it’s obviously not up to the job to having men’s and women’s football on it, I have never been to a women’s football match, as I don’t have daughters, if it was a big match I probably would go along to the valley, to see how the women get on.1 -
Seems like good news to me, especially the part where three quarters of a million is contributed.
If the pitch was going to have it's usual re lay this summer isn't that one million any way?
So that one million plus the three quarters of a million is there.
How much overall do these state of the art pitches cost?0 -
The Leeds pitch cost £1.5 million so I would imagine similar or slightly less0
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Oh.barstool said:The Leeds pitch cost £1.5 million so I would imagine similar or slightly less
If I am right that the annual standard relay is £1 Million, and there is a helpful £750,000 now. Then it is a lovely new top of the range pitch for a lower that expected summer outlay.0 -
I have no idea on costs of this but if an annual spend on the relaying the pitch is as Seth says around £1 million then what are the annual ongoing costs of this new pitch ?0
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Wonder how much input technical director Andy Scott will have had on this…0
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My only problem is we don't bloody own the stadium.....that sticks in my throat.....Roland Out5
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It’s a problem certainly but not with regards to this.ct_addick said:My only problem is we don't bloody own the stadium.....that sticks in my throat.....Roland Out1 -
ct_addick said:My only problem is we don't bloody own the stadium.....that sticks in my throat.....Roland Out
The cherry on the top would be the announcement at the POTY do that..." We now own The Valley & SL lock stock & Barrel"...🙄1
https://youtu.be/OUUOh_0J9sU?si=zDtsRI2OjG_Xmw_E
