| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 15:41 - Sep 20 with 5468 views | Yorkshire_Dale |
.....and tomorrow it's wall to wall sunshine! (allegedly )
What a way to loose our top slot. |  | |  |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 16:20 - Sep 20 with 5355 views | 49thseason |
The pitch wasn't dug out and completely re-done because it would have cost £1.3m.
The rainfall today has been exceptional even by Rochdale standards and the club had rain covers deployed. Sometimes you just have to accept that there are some weather conditions that simply defeat efforts to overcome them . Unfortunate, yes, disappointing, yes, but hardly embarrassing. We live in one of the wettest areas of the country these things happen here.. There is noone at fault, the club did its best, the weather won......On to Tuesday.......! |  | | |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 16:30 - Sep 20 with 5273 views | 442Dale |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 16:20 - Sep 20 by 49thseason |
The pitch wasn't dug out and completely re-done because it would have cost £1.3m.
The rainfall today has been exceptional even by Rochdale standards and the club had rain covers deployed. Sometimes you just have to accept that there are some weather conditions that simply defeat efforts to overcome them . Unfortunate, yes, disappointing, yes, but hardly embarrassing. We live in one of the wettest areas of the country these things happen here.. There is noone at fault, the club did its best, the weather won......On to Tuesday.......! |
Answer this, irrespective of whether the game could have gone ahead once the covers were off. If the covers are waterproof why was it postponed because a “ high amount of rainfall this morning has resulted in areas of the pitch becoming waterlogged.”?
There’s a real danger of different issues being confused here. |  |
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 16:48 - Sep 20 with 5208 views | frenzied |
Blackburn game stopped | | | |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 16:56 - Sep 20 with 5165 views | ChaffRAFC |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 16:20 - Sep 20 by 49thseason |
The pitch wasn't dug out and completely re-done because it would have cost £1.3m.
The rainfall today has been exceptional even by Rochdale standards and the club had rain covers deployed. Sometimes you just have to accept that there are some weather conditions that simply defeat efforts to overcome them . Unfortunate, yes, disappointing, yes, but hardly embarrassing. We live in one of the wettest areas of the country these things happen here.. There is noone at fault, the club did its best, the weather won......On to Tuesday.......! |
Hardly embarrassing? We're the only game off in the country and it's September?
If any rainy day is going to cause a postponement then how are we going to fare in winter?
Even amateur football in the area has fared better!
How is it not embarrassing?
The issue is the pitch, it's not the rainfall only and we've not addressed the real issue which is the drainage. The issue needs sorting otherwise what is the point in having a squad that can challenge when it will be having to play 3/4 times a week at the back end of the season? |  |
| If I hadn't seen such riches, I could live with being poor |
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 17:12 - Sep 20 with 5052 views | TVOS1907 |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 16:56 - Sep 20 by ChaffRAFC |
Hardly embarrassing? We're the only game off in the country and it's September?
If any rainy day is going to cause a postponement then how are we going to fare in winter?
Even amateur football in the area has fared better!
How is it not embarrassing?
The issue is the pitch, it's not the rainfall only and we've not addressed the real issue which is the drainage. The issue needs sorting otherwise what is the point in having a squad that can challenge when it will be having to play 3/4 times a week at the back end of the season? |
TBF, Chaff, we weren't the only game off.
Blackburn v Ipswich was abandoned, as was KFC Fylde v someone (when they were 4-0 up) and Runcorn v bury. FC United v Rushall was also postponed.
You're right about the pitch and squad, but it's not accurate to say we were the only game off. |  |
| A wise man would be able to self-analyse and perhaps understand. |
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 17:15 - Sep 20 with 5034 views | fermin |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 17:12 - Sep 20 by TVOS1907 |
TBF, Chaff, we weren't the only game off.
Blackburn v Ipswich was abandoned, as was KFC Fylde v someone (when they were 4-0 up) and Runcorn v bury. FC United v Rushall was also postponed.
You're right about the pitch and squad, but it's not accurate to say we were the only game off. |
Southport also abandoned. |  | | |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 17:17 - Sep 20 with 5012 views | EllDale |
Having just seen some footage of the game at Burnley I’m not sure how that game finished either. | | | |
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 17:36 - Sep 20 with 4884 views | D_Alien |
It's now 5.30pm, what would've been kick off time, and it's absolutely legging it down with no sign of relenting
The covers would've had to have been removed a good hour ago in preparation
There's not a chance the game could've finished, if started
Being called off is disappointing for everyone, especially those fans who've travelled and if there's any lessons to be learned about utilising the new covers earlier, i'm sure the organisational skills of the Ogdens will be making sure they're learnt [Post edited 20 Sep 17:39]
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 17:44 - Sep 20 with 4789 views | 442Dale |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 17:36 - Sep 20 by D_Alien |
It's now 5.30pm, what would've been kick off time, and it's absolutely legging it down with no sign of relenting
The covers would've had to have been removed a good hour ago in preparation
There's not a chance the game could've finished, if started
Being called off is disappointing for everyone, especially those fans who've travelled and if there's any lessons to be learned about utilising the new covers earlier, i'm sure the organisational skills of the Ogdens will be making sure they're learnt [Post edited 20 Sep 17:39]
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Totally agree. It wouldn’t have finished (or started after the covers were taken off)
But with the pitch covered, how did the following occur:
“ the high amount of rainfall this morning has resulted in areas of the pitch becoming waterlogged”
For future games, that needs investigating and explaining. | |
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 17:52 - Sep 20 with 4738 views | wozzrafc |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 16:56 - Sep 20 by ChaffRAFC |
Hardly embarrassing? We're the only game off in the country and it's September?
If any rainy day is going to cause a postponement then how are we going to fare in winter?
Even amateur football in the area has fared better!
How is it not embarrassing?
The issue is the pitch, it's not the rainfall only and we've not addressed the real issue which is the drainage. The issue needs sorting otherwise what is the point in having a squad that can challenge when it will be having to play 3/4 times a week at the back end of the season? |
We have a unique set of problems meaning our pitch doesn’t drain. We have specialist telling us the only long term solution is to spend upwards of 1.5 million to put it right.
Other teams don’t have these issues
Other games have been abandoned or postponed today so we really didn’t stand a chance.
Any lower division club would have struggled spending that sort of money. 24 months ago we couldn’t even pay the wages so what chance did we have spending the money to fix the pitch.Thankfully we now have the Ogdens who will enviably fund what needs to be done.
But fans just telling the club they’re an embarrassment without excepting the extent of the problem just really doesn’t help anyone. Particularly when those running the club are investing millions to keep us afloat. [Post edited 20 Sep 17:55]
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 17:58 - Sep 20 with 4678 views | 442Dale |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 17:52 - Sep 20 by wozzrafc |
We have a unique set of problems meaning our pitch doesn’t drain. We have specialist telling us the only long term solution is to spend upwards of 1.5 million to put it right.
Other teams don’t have these issues
Other games have been abandoned or postponed today so we really didn’t stand a chance.
Any lower division club would have struggled spending that sort of money. 24 months ago we couldn’t even pay the wages so what chance did we have spending the money to fix the pitch.Thankfully we now have the Ogdens who will enviably fund what needs to be done.
But fans just telling the club they’re an embarrassment without excepting the extent of the problem just really doesn’t help anyone. Particularly when those running the club are investing millions to keep us afloat. [Post edited 20 Sep 17:55]
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Sorry but nobody is disputing the problems with the pitch.
It is not answering the obvious question, the pitch cover sized elephant in the room that exists irrespective of how bad the weather is or how poor the pitch is:
Do the covers keep a pitch dry or not? | |
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 18:18 - Sep 20 with 4593 views | D_Alien |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 17:58 - Sep 20 by 442Dale |
Sorry but nobody is disputing the problems with the pitch.
It is not answering the obvious question, the pitch cover sized elephant in the room that exists irrespective of how bad the weather is or how poor the pitch is:
Do the covers keep a pitch dry or not? |
It's been noted there was water near the pitch surface on Tuesday night
There may well have been a finely balanced decision to have been made, in terms of covering the pitch early against the forecast downpours or allowing the surface to dry out further
You're right, there are questions to be asked, but i suspect it's more in terms of timing of deployment of the covers, given the existing high water table, which is possibly unique to us and so any advice from the manufacturers or other sources may not be of that much help | |
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 19:11 - Sep 20 with 4422 views | wozzrafc |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 17:58 - Sep 20 by 442Dale |
Sorry but nobody is disputing the problems with the pitch.
It is not answering the obvious question, the pitch cover sized elephant in the room that exists irrespective of how bad the weather is or how poor the pitch is:
Do the covers keep a pitch dry or not? |
But it’s more complex than that.
You can’t constantly have a pitch covered, and if the water table around the pitch is high like today through torrential rain it is not going to guaranteed to work.
The covers will help limit the saturation of a pitch but not full prevent the ground underneath still soaking up water. | | | |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 19:20 - Sep 20 with 4374 views | 442Dale |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 19:11 - Sep 20 by wozzrafc |
But it’s more complex than that.
You can’t constantly have a pitch covered, and if the water table around the pitch is high like today through torrential rain it is not going to guaranteed to work.
The covers will help limit the saturation of a pitch but not full prevent the ground underneath still soaking up water. |
Not sure where any of that is being disputed.
Do the covers stop rain from impacting the surface?
Could they have been used better to ensure the pitch was dry before they were removed?
Those questions follow on from this:
https://rochdaleafc.co.uk/summerupdatecameronogden110625/
“ Our best chance of mitigating that risk is to avoid water entering the pitch in the first place.”
“ This season, we intend to have a strict regime in place to fully cover the pitch whenever there is material rainfall and to minimise the times before and after a game (and before and after rugby games) when it is uncovered in the wet.”
Irrespective of any postponement, one which we all know would have happened with this weather as soon as the pitch was uncovered (see the fears earlier in the thread around this), those questions need to be answered and communicated.
Because if they aren’t, there will be doubts around any game when any amount of rain is forecast. | |
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 19:52 - Sep 20 with 4255 views | judd |
Having spent 2 hours on the pitch today and witnessing the waterlogged areas as the covers were removed was extremely deflating.
I did not see any holes or rips, nor any imperfect overlaps of covers that would allow the sort of ingress they has caused the areas to be unplayable, which they absolutely were.
There was a measured jar pitch side that had captured 20cms of rainfall. Over what period, I don't know. Nevertheless, the water was relentless. Those moppers were like a ship, just displacing water as they progressed forlornly from one side to the other, weighing a tonne before being emptied, only to venture back again into the same flood. Clearly designed for much lighter events.
I think it only fair that the club issues a statement about the state of the pitch before covers were deployed, because if the rain has breached the waterproof defence, what next?
Great team effort, from Tony Pockney, Andy Duff, George Delves, Jim McNulty, Jason Taylor and many others with the groundstaff and fans. [Post edited 20 Sep 19:53]
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 21:03 - Sep 20 with 4052 views | borodale |
Bitterly disappointing but we're suffering the consequences of a botched job by previous incumbents. I think I'm right in saying the pitch has been stripped back to the drains twice in the last ten years or so. To still have such poor drainage is mesmerizing. The covers will move water to the side of the pitch, but can water drain from there? If not it just soaks and raises the water table. Perhaps some method of taking the water of the covers and drained away properly may work ? | | | |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 23:14 - Sep 20 with 3789 views | Yorkshire_Dale |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 21:03 - Sep 20 by borodale |
Bitterly disappointing but we're suffering the consequences of a botched job by previous incumbents. I think I'm right in saying the pitch has been stripped back to the drains twice in the last ten years or so. To still have such poor drainage is mesmerizing. The covers will move water to the side of the pitch, but can water drain from there? If not it just soaks and raises the water table. Perhaps some method of taking the water of the covers and drained away properly may work ? |
Having got the water to the sides of the pitch why not rig up several bilge/ sump pumps and get the water off site into the local drainage system....sur there must be a fall away from the ground. | | | |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 10:27 - Sep 21 with 3217 views | Dalenet |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 19:52 - Sep 20 by judd |
Having spent 2 hours on the pitch today and witnessing the waterlogged areas as the covers were removed was extremely deflating.
I did not see any holes or rips, nor any imperfect overlaps of covers that would allow the sort of ingress they has caused the areas to be unplayable, which they absolutely were.
There was a measured jar pitch side that had captured 20cms of rainfall. Over what period, I don't know. Nevertheless, the water was relentless. Those moppers were like a ship, just displacing water as they progressed forlornly from one side to the other, weighing a tonne before being emptied, only to venture back again into the same flood. Clearly designed for much lighter events.
I think it only fair that the club issues a statement about the state of the pitch before covers were deployed, because if the rain has breached the waterproof defence, what next?
Great team effort, from Tony Pockney, Andy Duff, George Delves, Jim McNulty, Jason Taylor and many others with the groundstaff and fans. [Post edited 20 Sep 19:53]
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Can I just say thank you Judd to you and the other volunteers that worked hard yesterday to get the game on. I was personally frsutrated given how difficult my journey to Rochdale was yesterday, but it can't compare to how you guys must have felt. So thanks for trying.
As you say we need to hear from the club on what they see as the issue and what they propose to do next. I do wonder whether it is critical to employ a team to continually roll the water off the covers during periods of rain - whether day or night. As Cameron said in his summer update - we will adopt a strict regime to ensure the pitch remains dry. They can't rely on volunteers on matchday to do it. But they will be very worried about the impact on the sustainability of the club if this is a start of long winter of postponements. Playing at Owdum or elsewhere may need to be considered. | | | |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 12:17 - Sep 21 with 3010 views | TalkingSutty |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 10:27 - Sep 21 by Dalenet |
Can I just say thank you Judd to you and the other volunteers that worked hard yesterday to get the game on. I was personally frsutrated given how difficult my journey to Rochdale was yesterday, but it can't compare to how you guys must have felt. So thanks for trying.
As you say we need to hear from the club on what they see as the issue and what they propose to do next. I do wonder whether it is critical to employ a team to continually roll the water off the covers during periods of rain - whether day or night. As Cameron said in his summer update - we will adopt a strict regime to ensure the pitch remains dry. They can't rely on volunteers on matchday to do it. But they will be very worried about the impact on the sustainability of the club if this is a start of long winter of postponements. Playing at Owdum or elsewhere may need to be considered. |
Something else that also needs to be considered is the psychological impact that the uncertainty of getting games on has on the players. The players train and prepare for each indivividual game and i doubt they would have considered the game being postponed when they woke up on Saturday morning. Frustrating also for the manager and coaches. Their focus has to be on the game but will now probably stray to second guessing if games will take place if there is any rain around. [Post edited 21 Sep 12:25]
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 14:04 - Sep 21 with 2873 views | Knowlesy |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 16:56 - Sep 20 by ChaffRAFC |
Hardly embarrassing? We're the only game off in the country and it's September?
If any rainy day is going to cause a postponement then how are we going to fare in winter?
Even amateur football in the area has fared better!
How is it not embarrassing?
The issue is the pitch, it's not the rainfall only and we've not addressed the real issue which is the drainage. The issue needs sorting otherwise what is the point in having a squad that can challenge when it will be having to play 3/4 times a week at the back end of the season? |
Any excuse to have a moan. The rain yesterday was absolutely biblical and there was no way the game was getting on. Loads of other games abandoned yesterday which would be even worse, and a late kick off is an extra couple of hours rainfall to contend with. Hardly embarrassing is right. |  | | |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 10:04 - Sep 22 with 2133 views | dingdangblue |
Fair play to the club trying something to protect the pitch from rain but ultimately last weekend has shown us that these covers aren't fit for purpose. You would need inter linking frames sloping from one side of the pitch to the other - a bit like the ones that cover a cricket square - but to do it over the size of a football pitch just isn't feasible. You would still need to drain the water away and where would you store them? The only solution is proper drainage being installed eventually - or building a new stadium with a roof. |  |
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 10:20 - Sep 22 with 2106 views | Daleaholic |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 10:04 - Sep 22 by dingdangblue |
Fair play to the club trying something to protect the pitch from rain but ultimately last weekend has shown us that these covers aren't fit for purpose. You would need inter linking frames sloping from one side of the pitch to the other - a bit like the ones that cover a cricket square - but to do it over the size of a football pitch just isn't feasible. You would still need to drain the water away and where would you store them? The only solution is proper drainage being installed eventually - or building a new stadium with a roof. |
Spot on.
Perhaps this weekend has highlighted the issue faced with laying rain covers on a flat pitch... The rainwater is always going to sit, pool and ultimately find its way onto the pitch itself.
I appreciate that the inflatable domes we've seen before are costly but long term, surely that's the solution to prevent all pitch related postponements? If we're looking to spend £1.3m on a brand new pitch, lets make sure we have the tools on hand to look after it.
https://www.covermaster.com/MacLeod-Cover
This is what we need. |  |
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| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 21:30 - Sep 24 with 823 views | dannyuk |
Watching the Scunny game and their pitch is falling apart quite badly already. That's going to be a nightmare over winter. Obviously playing on it Saturday did it no good. |  | | |
| Rochdale v Southend United - Game Off! on 22:04 - Sep 24 with 759 views | robshaker |
hundreds of games were played and finished no excuse.. Prestwich Heys won 4-1 at home V Doncaster City I walked past on way to pub. | | | |
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