Sloping RL pitches - cost to fix?

[Hopping Mad]

8 hours ago, Davo5 said:

From memory didn’t the Barrow Is pitch just slope from one end to the other,Underbank’s had more slopes than the Alps.

Egremont,Kells pit pitch & Siddal all deserve honourable mentions.

That pitch at Barrow Island slopes down, to each set of posts, from a central crown. Oddest rugby ground - in either code - I've ever watched a game at. 

The thing I remember most about Underbank Rangers is the proximity of the drystone wall along the side opposite the clubhouse and the farm (and its yard) right behind the near end sticks.

Quite an end-to-end slope at Keighley Albion, as I recall - although not a dramatic as Crown Flatt's was.

No surprise Halifax never fixed Thrum Hall's prodigious, side-to-side slope. Used to be worth a few points' start to Fax!

Edited December 30, 2022 by Hopping Mad

[The Phantom Horseman]

4 hours ago, Big Picture said:

So you think that Old Trafford, Anfield, the Camp Nou, the Maracanã, Soldier Field and a great many others all having a level field makes them bland?  Seriously???

 

No, that's a straw man, I'm not saying that those fields being level makes them bland individually or as a group. I'm saying that forbidding any field that has for many people added lots of character to the game would be a move towards blandness.

[fighting irish]

On 29/12/2022 at 17:58, Davo5 said:

You’ve never seen a sloping pitch unless you’ve visited Underbank.

I played there, on what must have been the coldest, wettest, windiest day in history.

Our winger was terrified of being tackled into the drystone wall 2 feet from the touchline and just couldn't quite believe that the touch judge was stood on the other side of the wall reaching over the wall and waving his handkerchief, to indicate the ball had crossed the line.

The sleet, snow and hail was blowing horizontally across the pitch, without falling to ground and I remember tackling their huge prop on our 20 metre line and both of us sliding down the slope (me on my back, him on top of me, hydroplaning on 6 inches of ice cold muddy water) into our in goal area.

At half time, the referee thought it was a sensible idea to return to the changing rooms (very sensible) but I had a hell of a job to get our lads to go back out onto the pitch for the second half.

Fantastic memories, great club, great people (who also travelled to Aberavon, to help us get going in the early days). I've told this story many times over the years and have many fond memories of those times and of course of Maurice Oldroyd who was the main link between us (my brother) and Underbank Rangers.

Their (and many other northern amateur clubs) willingness to travel to us was the chief component in establishing the amateur game in Wales.

[The Ghost of 99]

The funny thing about Big Picture is that the more he seeks to rob the sport of all that makes it individual, or characterful, or original, or local, the less chance we actually have of people showing any interest in it beyond existing fan bases.

Just on this point of grounds and pitches, we should be seeking to make our stadia more unique not less. Look at American baseball - the idiosyncrasies of each ground are a massive feature not a bug. The slope at Batley or Fev should be points of interest not something insecure people are bizarrely ashamed of.

Celebrate Rugby League's brilliant diversity and its heroic past, don't seek to ruthlessly eliminate any sign of either. Stop being hung up on who we are and spend more time just embracing it. You'll be a lot less stressed out too.

[sweaty craiq]

3 hours ago, The Ghost of 99 said:

The funny thing about Big Picture is that the more he seeks to rob the sport of all that makes it individual, or characterful, or original, or local, the less chance we actually have of people showing any interest in it beyond existing fan bases.

Just on this point of grounds and pitches, we should be seeking to make our stadia more unique not less. Look at American baseball - the idiosyncrasies of each ground are a massive feature not a bug. The slope at Batley or Fev should be points of interest not something insecure people are bizarrely ashamed of.

Celebrate Rugby League's brilliant diversity and its heroic past, don't seek to ruthlessly eliminate any sign of either. Stop being hung up on who we are and spend more time just embracing it. You'll be a lot less stressed out too.

Not having a flat pitch is fine at lower levels but watching a game at Batley with 85% of play at the deep end on a wet and windy day is not the future for TV - or fans when the covered end is far away, hence SL rules should state 100m between goal posts and flat

Edited December 31, 2022 by sweaty craiq

[Tommygilf]

I think it says it all when the comparison for the likes of Batley is amateur clubs playing on hills. If that is your marker then fine, but don't expect everyone else to think its acceptable.

[Tommygilf]

6 minutes ago, sweaty craiq said:

Having a flat pitch is fine at lower levels but watching a game at Batley with 85% of play at the deep end on a wet and windy day is not the future for TV - or fans when the covered end is far away, hence SL rules should state 100m between goal posts and flat

Agreed. 100m and flat really shouldn't be that hard. I can allow for historical limitations to an extent, but no new RL ground should be constructed without those 2 basic requirements being met.

[Blind side johnny]

18 hours ago, Griff said:

Anybody remember Crown Flatt ?   Far from flat.........

I spent many years watching Dewsbury play down into the nineoil. It wasn't much of a home advantage when your team was only ordinary. Overall the ground was much flatter than Mount Pleasant but with the distinct drop into one corner.

[Blind side johnny]

18 hours ago, Griff said:

The one at Horwich ?

Yes, the only ground that I have seen that had a noticeable "crown" at half way.

[Blind side johnny]

18 hours ago, David Shepherd said:

No, they've made the pitch fit inside the speedway track by the looks of it.

It's now so small that games really should be 11 a side a Odsal.

No speedway at Odsal nowadays - stock car track.

[gingerjon]

3 hours ago, The Ghost of 99 said:

Look at American baseball - the idiosyncrasies of each ground are a massive feature not a bug.

Ground rule double if the ball gets stuck in the ivy at Wrigley Field.

But the diamond is the same in every ground.

 

[ivans82]

It always used to baffle me on our many trips  from Cumbria into the Yorkshire heartlands as we passed numerous Sunday markets and Sunday league football matches all taking place on perfectly level ground , and then we would arrive at the Rugby League ground to find most grounds with a very pronounced slope (Crown Flatt being the steepest ) .What was it in the old days , did they actively think you needed a sloping pitch to play Rugby League on or did they deliberately go out of the way to find such a place ?

[Griff]

1 hour ago, ivans82 said:

It always used to baffle me on our many trips  from Cumbria into the Yorkshire heartlands as we passed numerous Sunday markets and Sunday league football matches all taking place on perfectly level ground , and then we would arrive at the Rugby League ground to find most grounds with a very pronounced slope (Crown Flatt being the steepest ) .What was it in the old days , did they actively think you needed a sloping pitch to play Rugby League on or did they deliberately go out of the way to find such a place ?

All the level ground had been taken up by Sunday markets and Sunday league soccer.

[Niels]

4 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

I think it says it all when the comparison for the likes of Batley is amateur clubs playing on hills. If that is your marker then fine, but don't expect everyone else to think its acceptable.

"The likes of Batley"?

Ar least we provide undercover terracing where away fans are welcome.

Nobody else thinks the terracing for away fans at Leeds is acceptable. Especially when there is torrential rain. 

I suppose they could move to the South Stand if they are prepared to be abused.

Most fans thankfully love the slope and it generates a lot of good publicity for the game. 

Edited December 31, 2022 by Niels

[fighting irish]

2 hours ago, Blind side johnny said:

I spent many years watching Dewsbury play down into the nineoil. It wasn't much of a home advantage when your team was only ordinary. Overall the ground was much flatter than Mount Pleasant but with the distinct drop into one corner.

My father played centre for Dewsbury.

I visited Crown Flatt with him (in my teens) and he told me he'd scored quite a few tries in that corner.

He was a great inspiration to me (and our whole family) and without trying, engendered a great love for the game.

He often spoke of the (far superior) athleticism, skill and guile of the Rugby League players compared to the union players he had left behind.

He was both impressed by and honoured to play alongside Vic Hey who he said, was one of the best players he'd ever seen, let alone played with.

As our public perception these days waxes and wanes, I think it's wise to remember that there was a time, not so long ago, when the ''professional'' game was acknowledged and accepted unequivocally (and begrudgingly by some) as the pinnacle of the rugby playing world. 

[Tommygilf]

23 minutes ago, Niels said:

"The likes of Batley"?

Ar least we provide undercover terracing where away fans are welcome.

Nobody else thinks the terracing for away fans at Leeds is acceptable. Especially when there is torrential rain. 

I suppose they could move to the South Stand if they are prepared to be abused.

Most fans thankfully love the slope and it generates a lot of good publicity for the game. 

Simply ludicrous.

Amateur hour pitches aren't applauded, they are ridiculed and rightly so.

[Niels]

26 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Simply ludicrous.

Amateur hour pitches aren't applauded, they are ridiculed and rightly so.

I was just surprised by your comments.

I thought you had been last year and had a great time which I think I appreciated here.

For me I love the slope and everyone I have take to Mount Pleasant feels the same.

Regardless of the slope, the playing surface is excellent so it is a good pitch. 

 

 

[The Phantom Horseman]

5 hours ago, sweaty craiq said:

Not having a flat pitch is fine at lower levels but watching a game at Batley with 85% of play at the deep end on a wet and windy day is not the future for TV - or fans when the covered end is far away, hence SL rules should state 100m between goal posts and flat

Speak for yourself. I'd never miss a televised game from Batley and I'd much sooner watch a game on TV from there than from some soulless identikit council-owned ground with row upon row of empty seats.

[Griff]

5 hours ago, sweaty craiq said:

Not having a flat pitch is fine at lower levels but watching a game at Batley with 85% of play at the deep end on a wet and windy day is not the future for TV - or fans when the covered end is far away, hence SL rules should state 100m between goal posts and flat

That would rule out a lot of soccer pitches being used and I would suggest to you that that would be the main reason why that's not going to happen any time soon.

But surely, if you're struggling to see the far end of a pitch, you need the pitch to be shorter, not longer.

Either that, or opera glasses.

[Tommygilf]

24 minutes ago, Niels said:

I was just surprised by your comments.

I thought you had been last year and had a great time which I think I appreciated here.

For me I love the slope and everyone I have take to Mount Pleasant feels the same.

Regardless of the slope, the playing surface is excellent so it is a good pitch. 

I loved the game I went to at Batley, fantastic experience, the pitch however is tinpot in the extreme.

[Tommygilf]

16 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Speak for yourself. I'd never miss a televised game from Batley and I'd much sooner watch a game on TV from there than from some soulless identikit council-owned ground with row upon row of empty seats.

I think its possible to criticise Batley's pitch separately from appreciating Batley's ground and other aspects of the club.

[Griff]

16 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

I loved the game I went to at Batley, fantastic experience, the pitch however is tinpot in the extreme.

What's your plan for taking out an eleven foot deep wedge of muck ?

It sounds like a major engineering operation to me

[Tommygilf]

17 minutes ago, Griff said:

What's your plan for taking out an eleven foot deep wedge of muck ?

It sounds like a major engineering operation to me

I believe that is the question postulated in the opening post

[Griff]

1 minute ago, Tommygilf said:

I believe that is the question postulated in the opening post

Well, IMG will probably have some ideas.

[Tommygilf]

16 minutes ago, Griff said:

Well, IMG will probably have some ideas.

Yep, might be a case of Category B