Truro City - fixture congestion and ground (pitch) problems

[jdrobbo]

I’m struggling to keep up with it, but from what I can gather, Truro have:

Played 34 of their 46 games

Most other sides have played 40 or 41 matches.

They have to play ALL of their remaining games in a 25 day period, finishing 20th April.

Looks like they’ll be playing Saturday-Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday.

They have NINE home games still to play, due to having had a constantly waterlogged pitch.

Seven of those nine home games will be played consecutively.

BUT…….All nine of those home games are to be played at Gloucester’s Meadow Park… a 400 mile and EIGHT HOURS (if you’re lucky) round trip!!

They currently sit 19th in the National League South. It’ll be interesting to follow their progress over the next four weeks!

BONKERS!!

IMG_4697.jpeg (304.85 KiB) Viewed 2196 times

[South West Claret.]

I’m struggling to keep up with it, but from what I can gather, Truro have:

Played 34 of their 46 games

Most other sides have played 40 or 41 matches.

They have to play ALL of their remaining games in a 25 day period, finishing 20th April.

Looks like they’ll be playing Saturday-Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday.

They have NINE home games still to play, due to having had a constantly waterlogged pitch.

Seven of those nine home games will be played consecutively.

Quite a run in for Truro then.
BUT…….All nine of those home games are to be played at Glouster’s Meadow Park… a 400 mile and EIGHT HOURS (if you’re lucky) round trip!!

They currently sit 19th in the National League South. It’ll be interesting to follow their progress over the next four weeks!

BONKERS!!

IMG_4697.jpeg

Some finish to the season for Truro.

[elwaclaret]

Think they need to have a look at getting the drainage fixed… that will surely warp were they should have ended up in the league.

Randomly, it reminded me when I was telling a bloke in Newquay that I collected Burnley programmes as a kid he gave me a handful of Newquay programmes (they were about the size of BB)… probably the oddest inclusion in my football memorabilia collection.

[dsr]

Colne are the same. 11 league games and a cup semi-final to play, Mon-Wed-Sat-Mon-Wed-Sat-Mon-Wed-Sat-Tue-Thur-Sat. Don't know where the possible cup final might fit in!

[Vegas Claret]

bad enough for the players, imagine having a season ticket

[wilks_bfc]

You get this story every season
In fact I’m sure this happened before to Truro recently

[jdrobbo]

You get this story every season
In fact I’m sure this happened before to Truro recently

You absolutely do, but I have to say, I’m not aware of any club having to play nine home games TWO HUNDRED miles away because of a poor pitch.

[Hipper]

The reason seems to be unprecedented rain in the south west and Gloucester have an artificial pitch so unlikely to have to cancel:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68641250

My local team play in the Isthmian Premier (one step below Truro) and are two or three games behind because of their home grounds poor drainage, with seven of their last ten matches at home. The problem has existed and been tinkered with for a few years. They are looking at investing in (or rather getting mostly local tax payers to buy) an artificial pitch.

[boatshed bill]

Paul Wotton is Truro's manager; didn't Stan try to sign him?

[Foshiznik]

Truro is literally in the middle of nowhere so not a surprise they have a bit of trip to play in a decent(ish) ground. However, their local(ish - still 97 miles away) rivals Torquay have just gone into administration, so surely they could have come to an arrangement to pay them something to share their pitch for the remainder of the season and this would have helped both teams with their relative issues.

[LS7]

Genuinely interesting thread. Surely the future is more artificial turf given changing climate. At junior football level in Leeds it’s shocking, mudbaths like the 1970s.

[FCBurnley]

Amazing how bored people get on International weekends

[Fretters]

Paul Wotton is Truro's manager; didn't Stan try to sign him?

That rings a bell, when he played for Plymouth I think?

[South West Claret.]

The more I know about the downside of living in Cornwall the more I’m very glad I don’t live there.

[Buxtonclaret]

Seen my local side, Buxton, often cramming lots of games in through the final month or so of the season more than once.
Often compounded by any good cup runs they'd had.
Sometimes playing 2 or 3 games a week. All these lads had full time 'proper' jobs too!

[wilks_bfc]

Genuinely interesting thread. Surely the future is more artificial turf given changing climate. At junior football level in Leeds it’s shocking, mudbaths like the 1970s.

Same in a lot of places unfortunately.
My team haven’t played a game for 3 weeks now (and will be a fourth after next week as no game for Easter) because of the conditions of pitches due to the amount of rain

[jdrobbo]

Amazing how bored people get on International weekends

Could you possibly clarify this comment? Cheers

[JohnDearyMe]

How much does it roughly cost to have an artificial pitch installed? With the weather getting more extreme it seems to be becoming more of a problem for non league clubs. Would make sense for some of the tv money in the game to be siphoned down the leagues for that purpose

[Peter Loo]

How much does it roughly cost to have an artificial pitch installed? With the weather getting more extreme it seems to be becoming more of a problem for non league clubs. Would make sense for some of the tv money in the game to be siphoned down the leagues for that purpose

The cost can be around up to a million when I last looked at the subject of Astro pitches.

[Carnsmerry12]

Truro football club have fallen victim to the debacle surrounding a new stadium for Cornwall.They hope to return to a new( but much smaller than initially planned) stadium in the near future.
PS Cornwall is a great place to live!

[dsr]

How much does it roughly cost to have an artificial pitch installed? With the weather getting more extreme it seems to be becoming more of a problem for non league clubs. Would make sense for some of the tv money in the game to be siphoned down the leagues for that purpose

I doubt the increase in postponements is due to weather. Look at even league games from the 1970's and before - they used to play on pitches then, that would be instant postponements now. They postpone non-league games now because it would damage the pitch and rip up the grass if they played - those matches would never have been postponed in the seventies, and nor would the next one on the boggy mess.

(They played on frost-hardened pitches as well.)

[boatshed bill]

Truro football club have fallen victim to the debacle surrounding a new stadium for Cornwall.They hope to return to a new( but much smaller than initially planned) stadium in the near future.
PS Cornwall is a great place to live!

They had a decent ground, Treyew Road, not sure why they moved.

[South West Claret.]

“PS Cornwall is a great place to live” not if your a football fan it isn’t I would say.

[boatshed bill]

“PS Cornwall is a great place to live” not if your a football fan it isn’t I would say.

A great place to live if you can afford it.

[South West Claret.]

“PS Cornwall is a great place to live” not if your a football fan it isn’t I would say.

For instance they only have one General Hospital.

[dsr]

For instance they only have one General Hospital.

Is it a good general hospital? The question would arise, is it better to live 50 miles away from your hospital but it's a good one, or to live in the East Lancashire Hospital Trust area?

[South West Claret.]

Not the point dsr.

[dsr]

Not the point dsr.

Fair comment.

However, the price of houses in Cornwall does seem to suggest that more people than not think it's a good place to live. Hospitals and football notwithstanding!

[Hipper]

How much does it roughly cost to have an artificial pitch installed? With the weather getting more extreme it seems to be becoming more of a problem for non league clubs. Would make sense for some of the tv money in the game to be siphoned down the leagues for that purpose

As Peter Loo says, I too thought it was around £1 million. This site (see about half way down) says between £0.3 million and £1.2 million:

https://www.slattersportsconstruction.c ... l-pitches/

Compare to natural grass pitches:

https://www.slattersportsconstruction.c ... s-pitches/

Artificial pitches also need maintaining properly, principally to keep the pile upright. Failure to do that means reduced lifespan. The actual lifespan is around ten years so you need a budget to replace it in that time. I don't know how maintenance costs compare to natural grass but I suspect the latter costs more and requires greater skill and machinery.

A lot of the financial arguments are that artificial grass gets greater use, generating income. It's a good theory but whether it really does is another matter.

As you move up the football ladder, pitches get more of a hammering. It's estimated that a Premier League match is the equivalent of ten park football games. This is because players are fitter. I suspect that as fitness levels have increased lower down the pyramid so the wear and tear on their pitches has gone up. Perhaps the investment in them has not.

The key issue is drainage (getting water off the surface quickly and then away through pipework) but once you have good drainage costs increase elsewhere. You need to irrigate (watering a pitch costs a lot of money) and fertilise the pitch more often.

[dougcollins]

Wettest place I've been to is Somerset. The whole place is one giant bog.

[South West Claret.]

Ah yes the Somerset levels are there are they not.

[Paul Waine]

Fair comment.

However, the price of houses in Cornwall does seem to suggest that more people than not think it's a good place to live. Hospitals and football notwithstanding!

Isn't that more an indication that people like to own a second home there?

[dougcollins]

Ah yes the Somerset levels are there are they not.

When they say 'levels' does that mean 'below sea levels'?

[South West Claret.]

At or below I think is the right answer.but could be wrong on that one.

[bfcmik]

I played for Truro City for 1 season in the 1980s then dropped down a league the following season due to the inordinate amount of travel time for fixtures in the, at that time, South Western League. Setting off for games at 8am and getting home in the late evening wasn't my idea of fun.

[South West Claret.]

I played for Truro City for 1 season in the 1980s then dropped down a league the following season due to the inordinate amount of travel time for fixtures in the, at that time, South Western League. Setting off for games at 8am and getting home in the late evening wasn't my idea of fun.

Really was that as a professional.

[bfcmik]

Really was that as a professional.

I think I got about £8 for an away game and £5 for a home game. The only season in my whole career, including the walking football I play now, that I didn't have to pay to play!

[boatshed bill]

I think I got about £8 for an away game and £5 for a home game. The only season in my whole career, including the walking football I play now, that I didn't have to pay to play!

I played a SWL game there for Teignmouth about the same time, lost 2-0. I'd say Truro deserved to win by a lot more

on reflection it was more like mid-eighties

[bfcmik]

I recall trips to Yeovil, Bath and Swindon, Teignmouth away would have been almost like a home game! I wonder if I scored one, or missed loads , of those goals you conceded, it was either 85/86 or 86/87 when I played for them, probably the latter.

[boatshed bill]

I recall trips to Yeovil, Bath and Swindon, Teignmouth away would have been almost like a home game! I wonder if I scored one, or missed loads , of those goals you conceded, it was either 85/86 or 86/87 when I played for them, probably the latter.

Yes, around then. I was actually reserve team manager at the time but our regular GK got injured the week before.
Some of our lads were on really good money, I got £3
Never forget it because I was the only player paid in coins

[dsr]

And after another postponement yesterday, Colne's last week of the season has matches on Saturday Monday Tuesday Thursday Saturday. So still room for two more!

[jdrobbo]

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[jrgbfc]

And after another postponement yesterday, Colne's last week of the season has matches on Saturday Monday Tuesday Thursday Saturday. So still room for two more!

The league don't help imposing arbitrary finishing dates though. Would it not make sense to extend the season just a week or two?
The pitch isn't good enough for that level of football though, there's clubs playing in the East lancs league with better facilities.