The_Green_Man
Slave to the NHS.
Having played the local scene for many a year, I am familiar with a whole range of set ups....From Sunday League, to Amateur Leagues and on to non-league. I've spent cold Sunday mornings using the boot of my car as a changing room and then i've been at clubs who have been total luxury, with changing rooms, hot showers and the complete set up.
At certain clubs there was a certain criteria in regards to the level of facilities that had to be met in order to participate in certain leagues, for instance Brunsmeer FC.......In order to compete in the Meadowhall Sunday League, the club had to have a home ground with changing rooms and working showers etc......In fact, in the past I have known a club be promoted to a better standard of Sunday League football and raise five figure sums in order to build the required facilities in order to participate at that particular level.
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You then look at League One......
Our game at Peterborough on Saturday is potentially at risk due to a forecast of low temperatures and show showers, along with many other fixtures in League One and League Two which makes me think......Is this really acceptable at this level?
It is 2017 and we are looking at a league which consists of mainly established football league teams....yet so many so called "high profile" teams at this level such as Charlton, Peterborough and Gillingham don't have undersoil heating and form a ridiculously high perfentage of clubs at this level who likewise don't
Is this really acceptable in this day and age?
Fortunately (Touch Wood) the weather has been reasonably kind to us so far this winter ad due to this we haven't seen many postponements due to weather, with the exception of a few in our league a couple of weeks back....However in the past we have fallen casualty to cold weather postponements and due to this we have found ourselves backed up with numerous "double fixtured weeks" of Tuesday / Saturday football....and whilst we are talking about professional footballers who should be able to handle this, it still has it's toll on the players but also the finances of the fans who might be able to exchange tickets however still find themselves having to fork out again on travel costs.
In 2012, Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony was quoted to have told the local media down there that "Undersoil heating would cost around £700,000 and with only a handful of fixtures being called off in four years, it doesn't make financial sense"....I'm not sure how his opinions have changed since as he promised to address this once they had established themselves at this level....Which arguable has happened now.
.........................................................................................................................................................................
I just wondered what others thought? In this day and age...should undersoil heating be made a mandatory requirement in order to play at this level?
At certain clubs there was a certain criteria in regards to the level of facilities that had to be met in order to participate in certain leagues, for instance Brunsmeer FC.......In order to compete in the Meadowhall Sunday League, the club had to have a home ground with changing rooms and working showers etc......In fact, in the past I have known a club be promoted to a better standard of Sunday League football and raise five figure sums in order to build the required facilities in order to participate at that particular level.
...............................................................................................................................................................................
You then look at League One......
Our game at Peterborough on Saturday is potentially at risk due to a forecast of low temperatures and show showers, along with many other fixtures in League One and League Two which makes me think......Is this really acceptable at this level?
It is 2017 and we are looking at a league which consists of mainly established football league teams....yet so many so called "high profile" teams at this level such as Charlton, Peterborough and Gillingham don't have undersoil heating and form a ridiculously high perfentage of clubs at this level who likewise don't
Is this really acceptable in this day and age?
Fortunately (Touch Wood) the weather has been reasonably kind to us so far this winter ad due to this we haven't seen many postponements due to weather, with the exception of a few in our league a couple of weeks back....However in the past we have fallen casualty to cold weather postponements and due to this we have found ourselves backed up with numerous "double fixtured weeks" of Tuesday / Saturday football....and whilst we are talking about professional footballers who should be able to handle this, it still has it's toll on the players but also the finances of the fans who might be able to exchange tickets however still find themselves having to fork out again on travel costs.
In 2012, Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony was quoted to have told the local media down there that "Undersoil heating would cost around £700,000 and with only a handful of fixtures being called off in four years, it doesn't make financial sense"....I'm not sure how his opinions have changed since as he promised to address this once they had established themselves at this level....Which arguable has happened now.
.........................................................................................................................................................................
I just wondered what others thought? In this day and age...should undersoil heating be made a mandatory requirement in order to play at this level?
