Saturday 10th

[windsor bluenose]

Good comments from both Wind Sec & JJ. Nice to get back good conversation on the forum

[BAD GUY]

Investing in the infrastructure should always be the first priority. The condition of some of the pitches in Steps 4 and 5 is laughable. Better pitches should equate to a better standard of football for the spectator which could encourage more spectators to turn up as well as better players. Better supporter facilities would also help but while there is the log jam between steps 5 and 4 when it comes to promotion, I can understand why some clubs want to chase the golden ticket.

 

DBM : ''Investing in the infrastructure should always be the first priority !!!! Huh call the kettle black ! Well shame it wasn't last season at your beloved Windsor. Well sorry DBM it was always about getting promotion, not investing, with their massive budget and thought they would get it easily, they failed, they then realise what a waste of money (lost) winning nothing and now Investing in the infrastrcture should always be the first priority...... moving the goalposts springs to mind I'm sure you'll agree !

[BAD GUY]

It's a double-edged sword though JJ, does the income from letting the ground out cover the added cost of the repairs neeeded to keep it playable - I know from experience of groundsharing that in most cases the answer is a definite NO ! You then lose further income by having to rearrange postponed games for midweek when attendances are further affected by football on TV or having 3 or 4 home games on the trot which becomes expensive to watch when money is tight like it is at the moment. Windsor's pitch used to be one of the worst around for retaining water and being on the edge of a stream and subsequently a very expensive flood relief scheme means we still on the odd occasion get flooding at one end of the ground but generally speaking an investment programme over the last 6 or 7 years to upgrade the existing drainage and install extra drainage along with a programme to change the make-up of the pitch from mostly London Clay to a more sand-based construction has turned it into one of the best pitches around.

I totally agree there should be a standard of sorts for pitches at senior level, how you set the criteria is another matter though ! Perhaps the FA in their wisdom could judge this while at the same time removing some of their silly ground-grading expectations like having 250 seats when your regular attendance is only 150 which in turn frees up funds for the pitch rather than having to spend £5k on a bit of tarmac as we had to do last season just because an area of ground outside the clubhouse was rolled stone which they claimed could be thrown at players/officials yet we visit some clubs that look like building sites and one in particular that has a loose-gravel car park immediately adjacent to the pitch barrier for the whole length of the pitch - where's the consistency in that ?

 

Windsor Sec. interesting comments but in this day and age where funds are sparse, I'm sure every club would love to have the funds with the co-operation of the respective borough to have an investment programme to improve their pitch, but the money is simply not there to kick start the programme, so clubs have to deal with what they got and make the best out of it.

 

JJ is so right with what he says, clubs struggle to make money to survive, so bar having events held at the club, the main source of income would be to hire out the clubs facilities to make money which unfortunately with have an adverse effect on the pitch condition, Yes sponsorship will help when you can get it, but sponsors are more tight than ever to splash out money, yet bill's keep coming in ! Unfortunately, unless you have a sugar daddy (ie) Windsors budget last season, who is prepared to fund the club, this usually leads to loss of money to him/her in the long run, and you know what happens after that ! He/she leaves leaving the club to pick up the pieces. Its a short term fix but can help the club during his/her duration on improvements.

 

Lets be honest, what other alternatives are there ? No matter what you think there are, it all costs money ! Its a vicious circle !