I think Paddy worked minor miracles season after season to get it looking as good as it did but not even he can polish a turd. Even during the good times I always felt the pitch was not as good as it could have been after the first month or so of each season. The drainage was always an issue, the goal mouths wore out as did the touch lines and all of it cut up badly. Maybe that old pitch cost us a few points, it certainly wasn't an advantage. I would have liked, (a bit of hindsight here), some of the money Pardew wasted spent on the pitch. That way at least he would have left us with something more than when he arrived.
It is good to see a top quality playing surface at the Valley and it would be hard to believe there is a better pitch in our league, it is truly outstanding and it and the groundsmen deserves all the praise they are receiving.
It's all very well, but something has been taken away from football.
(The Valley in 1937 and 1951.) Man city thawing out- using what looks like roasted chestnut braziers.
Interesting comment. I'm sure the football purists would disagree but I think you might have a point.
Sure the quality of the football suffered but there was something about the difference between the summer and winter months when some teams and players were better suited to the winter pitches.
Might just as well play on a carpet these days.
Perhaps nostalgia has given me a false perspective
so glad we got our pitchback to what a championship pitch should be,we showed this season football can be played,not like last year,now looking forward to the Bournemouth game
I would much rather the pitch was over-invested in than under-invested in, as before. But, it does seem a strange use of limited funds when there is a lot of player signings/contracts to be sorted.
Comments
Even during the good times I always felt the pitch was not as good as it could have been after the first month or so of each season. The drainage was always an issue, the goal mouths wore out as did the touch lines and all of it cut up badly. Maybe that old pitch cost us a few points, it certainly wasn't an advantage. I would have liked, (a bit of hindsight here), some of the money Pardew wasted spent on the pitch. That way at least he would have left us with something more than when he arrived.
It is good to see a top quality playing surface at the Valley and it would be hard to believe there is a better pitch in our league, it is truly outstanding and it and the groundsmen deserves all the praise they are receiving.
(The Valley in 1937 and 1951.) Man city thawing out- using what looks like roasted chestnut braziers.
Sure the quality of the football suffered but there was something about the difference between the summer and winter months when some teams and players were better suited to the winter pitches.
Might just as well play on a carpet these days.
Perhaps nostalgia has given me a false perspective
Steve Evans
Nobody was missing the 'good old days' when we had that aweful pitch 3 seasons ago
Barely a bobble on it.