They Used To Play On Grass

On Tuesday 11th February, Heaton Stannington played our first game in a month, defeating Thornaby 1-0 with a 94th minute goal by Phil Smith in atrocious conditions (see photo). In the programme, I penned this short article about the need for 4G pitches in non-league football....

Banquo: It will be rain to-night.
First Murderer: Let it come down. (Macbeth IIIiii)

It’s been wet this winter. So far we’ve seen 3 home league games called off because of our spongy, waterlogged pitch; while the Chester Le Street one is provisionally rescheduled for next Tuesday 18^th February, the Alnwick Town and North Shields games are yet to be given a new date. The postponement of the Shields game was particularly galling; as Newcastle were away to Chelsea, with a certain defeat assured on the back of the previous week’s humiliation, interest in our game was massive. Not only were Shields intending to bring about 200 Ultras (they were meeting in The Corner House at noon!!), but following a twitter campaign around the hashtag #HSFCPartyConference we were looking at a crowd almost as good as the groundhop game against Birtley. Unfortunately, the game fell afoul of the elements; a soaking week was topped off by an overnight downpour in the early hours of Saturday. In all honesty, this was the most frustrating postponement I’d known since Boro infamously called off the home game against Newcastle in February 2003.

The week before when we’d been inactive following the Stokesley postponement, I’d gone to see Benfield’s 1-1 draw with Consett at The Steelmen’s state of the art 4G facility. On a filthy day, both sides were able to play slick, incisive one-touch football on the floor as the pitch was perfect, though the gale force wind also dissuaded the employment of the big boot. On Saturday I took in Benfield’s 3-2 win over Whitley Bay; it was thrilling, but the heavy, soft pitch made certain parts of the game a lottery, where excitement was provided by uneven bounce and sticky patches. It tells me that the future of the non-league game, unless a club is blessed with a superb draining pitch like Seaham Red Star or Billingham Synthonia,or an eye-watering £27,000 to invest on impermeable pitch covering, must be 4G pitches. The FA needs to act and provide money for community facilities in each area across the country, perhaps 2 per regional FA as minimum investment, to allow clubs to develop their youth set-ups, be open 7 days a week and allow football to be played on immaculate surfaces, rather than on boggy lotteries.

Instead of pampering millionaire Premiership players, let’s cascade money downwards; my Over 40s team played a game on 4G at Burnside School the other week as our pitch at Bigges Main was unplayable. The surface was true, the result a thumping 6-1 win in the real Tyne & Wear derby over Ryhope Cricket club, but the cost was a whopping £120; such expense simply is not sustainable for most teams. The choice for us is either pay outrageous charge this or face a ludicrous fixture pile up in April and May. Let’s be clear about this; the FA need to pay for facilities to improve the grassroots game by taking it off grassy bogs. It’s not as if the game isn’t awash with money after all.