Always a Wasp

I suppose you could devise something including length of grass, moisture content, pressure needed to apply to depress surface by n mm, a shear test could be devised, imitating say a 12 stone man sliding for 1 meter at 5 kph. That’s just me making something up.

You could look at rye EFL rules, which say:-

28 Playing Surface Standard / Slope of Pitch

28.1 The playing surface shall be grass and must be of a high standard, as defined by The Football League.

28.2 It must be flat and free from surface depressions and excessive undulations.

28.3 The maximum slopes allowable shall not exceed an even gradient of vertical to horizontal 1:41 in any direction.

28.4 Each Home Club shall provide full pitch frost covers and/or under soil heating (the specification of which shall meet the reasonable satisfaction of the Executive) which shall be operated to the extent necessary to procure, so far as it is reasonably possible, that the pitch is playable on the occasion of each match. A breach of this requirement which results in the postponement or abandonment of a match shall be dealt with in accordance with Regulation 28, and not Regulation 8.4.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find a written definition as referred to in 28.1

Or you could rely on an expert or experienced person, say a referee. The range of acceptability from such a person is likely to be relatively narrow

I’m pretty sure experienced groundsmen know what is likely to be acceptable to a referee. In any event, the state of the pitch at 6pm yesterday was very far from what would be acceptable on a council pitch, let alone for professional sport

I suppose a clause could be written something like this:-

“The playing surface must, as a minimum, be to a standard acceptable as safe and playable by an EFL referee at 6pm the day prior to the fixture.”

That would get round the mid concert or rugby match, let those dreadful huge stock car vehicles they have had.

I do agree that there is a fundamental difference between the ideal surface for both sports. I would be surprised if any of us can understand why this always seems such an issue in Coventry when other stadia seem to manage really well. Is insufficient money is being put into it, is the fundamental substrate on which the pitch stands is inadequate, or is there some truth in the rumour that a Leicester City shirt was buried there to curse the stadium?

CCFC will try to hold Wasps to account, they have no choice as there are thousands of angry and disappointed football fans who have been looking forward to a pleasant afternoon enjoying their pastime. I don’t know if they will be successful, but steps need to be taken to ensure this never happens again. We can but hope.

According to Dave Boddy, the EFL insisted that all EFL clubs who were affected by the CWG and hence played their first matches away HAD to play their second match at home. If that is the case, it is not so much that CCFC were keen (as suggested) to play at the CBS today, but had no choice.

Quote from: SBSam on August 07, 2022, 09:21:09 AM

Is it possible to clutch straws with your head buried in the sand?

I'll be clear here. This is a Wasps forum, if you are solely here to spread negative rumours and run down Wasps you'll be banned.

This is the only warning you, or any others will get.

“This place exists to provide a space for discussion about Wasps Rugby, and related subjects.”

In any discussion, there is likely to be more than one view expressed - or else it is a very short and boring interaction.

Some contributors think wasps are blameless and all is hunky dory. I don’t think that is the case and the apparent moratorium on further recruitment is but one piece of evidence that all is not well. Indeed, the OP of this thread is not convinced that all is well either.

Is it possible to clutch straws with your head buried in the sand?

Quote from: TheTameWasp on August 06, 2022, 06:51:28 PM

I'm afraid this down to Wasps, they have a tenant and a responsibility to provide a decent playing surface.  If I was CCFC i'd be extremely angry especially as promises were made to improve the playing surface.

For those blaming the football club, take off your Wasps specs for one moment and look at it from their point of view, I’m ashamed.

We’re promises made? Not saying they were or weren’t but only have CCFC statement to say it was, I’ve also heard the agreement for for a new surface to go down after this season, so no idea which is the truth.

I don’t get the unsafe comments, yes it’s poor and yes it was inspected by a senior match official but he probably had the CCFC guys in his ear the whole time so no surprise it has been called off. I still feel this has a strong element of point scoring at the moment.

Stephen Vaughan 10 March 2021

So there’s two things we’re going to be doing, firstly we’re going to be investing heavily in the maintenance of the pitch.


“It doesn’t matter how good your pitch is, you could be playing at Twickenham, but if you play at Twickenham every week, and you train on it, you’ve got no chance.

“We’re going to be investing in doubling up our lights. We’re going to be doubling up on the amount of staff on there as well.

“And after the first season of Coventry City being here and the Commonwealth Games, we’re going to be laying an entirely brand-new pitch again.”

So yes, promises were made. And not delivered.

Pitch unsafe

https://www.ccfc.co.uk/news/2022/august/news-coventry-city-versus-rotherham-united-game-postponed/

Apparently it looks a lot better today, it is being inspected as I type.