Quote ="Starbug"So how come the pitch is a mess ?'" www.leedscarnegie.com

Quote ="Starbug"So how come the pitch is a mess ?'" www.leedscarnegie.com

You've got that spot on. It is past tense, looking alright now!

It has basically put a message out to Warrington, Saints and Wigan (or any north west club) fans "don't bother". Friday night M62 is horrendous when going to watch our own team. Going to watch this exhibition...... I just don't know if I can be mithered. Why it wasn't midweek or on a Saturday on Sunday evening I will never know. Huddersfield would have been a much better choice. Stupid.

Job well done RFL

Between the Yorkshire clubs there is over 60k RL fans who pay to watch a game weekly, surely it can't be hard to fill the ground for what should be a very entertaining game? Anyone with a bit more committment to the game than you Lefty from the dark side of the pennines will just add to a predominantly Yorkshire crowd.

Is there much differance between the M62 midweek when people finish work at 5 & 6 and Friday when people finish work between 4 & 5.

Love Headingley personally, fantastic ground and area.

It will be even better next year

Are they getting Stacker back in that pub?

I've read some moans on here, this is one of the worst.

Oddly enough, yes there is. It's busier at 5:30/6:00 than it is during the week. I don't know why, it just is. Shame, I will end up going but I KNOW it will put a lot of people off.

who is moaning? besides you moaning about the moaning you seem to have imagined me doing? i simply asked a question.

So we should hold it somewhere away from the M62 then?
Hmmm well that leaves Quins & Catalans. Not too sure that's such a better idea.

the usual scenario is lack of investment in the turfcare side of things - probably bad drainage or existing drainage requiring renewal.Looks like it needs a good dose of lime for a start - do me some soil analysis and I will tell you exactly what needs to be done.....

yours respectfully,

a greenkeeper/groundsman of many years experience

Yes of course they are the only other places it could have been held. It's the time and the day more than the venue for me. I like Headingly, just not on a Friday night. It once took me four hours!

They are the only other places that don't require most RL fans to travel on the M62 which you seemed opposed to. Yet then strangely suggested Huddersfield would have been a far better choice.
If your objections to Headingley were as nick hkr described then I could understand and might even agree. But to suggest the game shouldn't be played at a ground off the M62 and then suggest another ground off the M62 as a better choice is very strange.

Standing and seating I love however the North Stand is not a great stand.

Yeah a good capacity but nothing Wigan/Hull could not rival.

What does it matter who owns it?

Corporate facilities? You think the KC or DW or even the Keepmoat do not have them to an equal standard?

Groundsman that lost to the HKR one a couple of years back? The pitch looked awful on sky a couple of weeks back compared to Halliwell Jones the pitch is a poor standard and can tell it has Union and League played on it.

HD Screen...well as the game is on Sky I don't suppose it would matter if it was played at the Skolars ground!

City with the largest support base? I'm sorry when did Leeds Rhinos and Hunslet combined get crowds of over 20k most weeks?

The other points are fair game and as my OP stated I do not mind the game being played there I just find it an odd choice when there are better grounds with equal facilities available to the RFL. The M62 is pretty busy but I got to Widnes the other week in around 2hrs on a Friday afternoon and the opposite direction did not look too bad either. It is a poor excuse not to go to a game and for me only finances will stop me going so hopefully fuel won't rise too much more and I can fill my car with paying customers!

Not alot of people from Hull would travel to Wigan on a Friday night, and vice versa.

Bradford, Castleford, Wakefield and Huddersfield fans are within 20 miles, everybody else are within 70 (except Crusaders and Harlequins).

The longer term issues with the field at Headingley are well know and documented (surprised you don't know if you are the expert?) and it is not due to lack of investment. It is a drainage issue but the problem can only be solved with a full deep renewal and re-laying of the pitch.... which will happen in August and it will be the first major re-laying of the pitch for over 80 years.

The severe problems with the pitch at the start of last season are also well documented and it was just having to keep the pitch covered for, I think, all but a couple of days in December and January that was the issue. It was also the countries worst winter in decades and the pitch remained very poor but playable throughout! The new modern part synthetic pitch and subsoils will of course be able to stand much lower temperatures than the current fully grass and soil pitch and that is why the more modern dual use stadiums in RL did not suffer as badly.

Also Headingley will have a new South Stand early in 2012 and a new North Stand is targeted for 2015. The re-building of the Western Terrace of course has planning, logistics and construction issues that will make it the last thing to be re-developed.

[:ydyppm4w

Sorry IA I am not au fait with the soil structure & related agronomy at Headingley ! why should I be ? I heve been (until recently) looking after 200 acres of golf course in sw france - News of the Headingley pitch hasn't filtered down this part of the world ,yet...BTW a relatively cheap drainage system could be installed without having to disrupt the playing area too much.This would consequently require regular local aeration operations to be carried out which any groundsman would be doing anyway,if the machinery/funding was available to him or her.


:ydyppm4w
The weather in most of scotland (to pick just one area) is far worse than Leeds I would imagine and their big sporting venues aren't that badly affected.A properly maintained sports field,assuming the basic rules have been adopted from the start shouldn't have to mean surfaces being re-laid every few years.
It doesn't matter what your subsoils are - if the drainage is insufficient you will always have a problem - again,these problems may well be 'well documented' along the M62,but not in the middle of rural france - apologies for that.



that's usually the case,the actual playing surface of any sports venue is the last place where money is invested,unless there is the intelligence in the boardroom to see otherwise - the policy seems to be,if it looks green,it must be ok...

You say that you are not familiar with the Headingley pitch issues because you are in southern France, fine no problems with that... so why comment in the first place and not only that, offer your undoubted expert opinion on why the pitch has problems without knowing the full facts?

Do you know what the underlying longer term issue with the Headingley pitch is and why only a full deep re-laying of the pitch will solve the problems?

I think accusing Leeds of underinvestment and lack of professional care of the playing surface could not be further from the truth!

Well said Mr Armadillo. The groundsmen and pitches get a good amount of funding from Uncle Gary.
Laying a new 3G pitch at Kirkstall as well, which sounds good although I have no idea what a 3G pitch is. Do I get a better mobile signal while stood on it or something?

Headingly is not an International Stadium.

If they wanted a 17k capacity the Doncaster should have been the choice.
Good for motorway access,
Designated parking,
Fully Covered Ground.
Uninterupted views of the pitch,
Good corporate facilities,
Good facilities for normal priced seating.

Doncaster win every time over Headingly, the place is an absolute dump with the worst game day experience in Super League for travelling fans.

Now come on ted , you know the rules on here , no criticism of the leeds rhino's stadium is permitted , it is all shiney and new , the ' Emporer ' said so