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Summer football


caleydawson

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Thought I read on our forum some time ago that the flooding or waterlogging of our pitch was mainly down to the water table / Firth levels. If so then we could still have problems in very wet summers, June is a case in point which can be a particularly wet month.

 

What we need is a 100% grant  (   :blush:  )  from the SFA or Scottish Gov. to have our pitch built on a raft similar to what was done for the commonwealth games at Hamden, after all on our current form we are aspiring world beaters who currently do not have, as yet, in Inverness,  facilities suitable to host  full internationals, European and world cup finals and the other great sporting events as are available in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Aberdeen can have their multimillion  Culture Centres so surely a little could be done for us, the new Mecca of footballing pulchritude and excellence.

 

O M G  what a match postponement can do to me.........think I better ;have a lay down   :cry:

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As was pointed out to me a few weeks back...summer football is great in theory, but creates just as many issues in practice.

 

The biggest one being pitch recovery.  At the moment this takes place during the summer when you get most growth, but if you are playing on it during that time then "recovery" period then becomes winter when you get little/no growth...i.e. it doesn't get chance to recover.

 

Summer football is good for other reasons, but it would also have to be done in conjunction with the use of 4G pitches.

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I'd advocate summer football but the biggest problem is international competition every two years.

 

Which Scotland now never qualify for and only a handful of players who play in Scotland will participate in.  Bigger countries than ours have managed to compete in the World Cup and other things while having a summer league, so it's an argument that doesn't wash with me.

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I'd advocate summer football but the biggest problem is international competition every two years.

 

Which Scotland now never qualify for and only a handful of players who play in Scotland will participate in.  Bigger countries than ours have managed to compete in the World Cup and other things while having a summer league, so it's an argument that doesn't wash with me.

 

 

The effect would be less than the African Nations Cup has on the English Premier League

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Whilst it will make attending a more pleasant experience and pitches may be improved it could result in even smaller crowds with many of our supporters playing golf in summer season and holiday demands by families. Also warmer brighter longer days have also more demands on family life . Not sure it will be the resounding success some people are predicting

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Summer football would work just fine. The quality of the grass and the way it is maintained is the key.

 

Grass seed grows much quicker in the summer than in the winter--about 100% I reckon. :laugh:

 

And dryer conditions allows for rolling and raking and better drainage which allows for rolling and.......................

 

And it's a much better and more enjoyable experience for the customer.

 

I am just stating the obvious from personal experience.

And once you all convince the beaks to change the season we can then turn our attention to the introduction of cameras above and to the sides of the goal area which will solve another huge lot of challenges.Yep it's the 21st century way and we have to move with the times I think. :wave:

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I think the biggest benefit would come from TV money.I suppose the theory is that there is less sporting competition for TV audiences, so Sky and BT might entertain a decent contract for Scotland to satisfy a year-long appetite. Savings would include reduced need for floodlighting. The international and European timetable is a consideration, but other countries manage it.

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We should build a BBQ area along the length of the West Stand side. A few dotted Barbies - garden benches - parasols in the club colours - beer being delivered by lads with strapped, advertised supplies - a Boots counter with sun products - and of course SP is spot on - the grass needs to be of the finest quality,

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I think quite a few people are confused about how a summer league works. It isn't just played from June-August!

At the moment in our 'winter league' we don't play in June and July. Summer leagues don't play in December- February.

 

Leagues in Europe who play a summer league such as Norway, Russia and Ireland play March-November.

 

So if we had a summer league this weeks game would be our first game of the season. Summer league or not the game yesterday would have been called off!

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Our current schedule could easily be tweaked without going full blown "summer league".

 

No matter which way you go you need to have midweek fixtures, what we need to do is have those fixtures earlier/later in the season and not during the toughest/gloomiest winter months.

 

Start the season with 3 or 4 weeks of midweek fixtures when the nights are a bit brighter and enthusiasm for the new season will help bring a few more along to these games....pitches are also at their best and able to cope with "extra" games.  You can also condense the post split fixtures into 2 weeks by doing Sat/Tue/Sat/Tue/Sat.

 

This gets rid of nonsense scenarios like we had this season with 7 games scheduled for January.  Keep the New Year fixtures, but perhaps look at no scheduled games either side as a kinda winter break/buffer zone.

 

It's not just weather and pitch conditions that cause issue over the festive period...that's also the time of year when people's finances are most stretched and it's not necessary for us to be cutting our own throat by trying to compete with xmas for people's cash.

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The MLS  started their first game of the season last week. Vancouver Whitecaps won there 1st game at home in warm and brilliant sunshine. Naturally there was a bumper crowd.... 'nuff said.

 

For those  fans who say it is a winter game, what's wrong with change? It's both inevitable and necessary to move along on the ever changing road of life. Otherwise why don't we just just go back to the middle ages. mud huts and leaking straw roofs?

 

And it's been successful in North America. Maybe we do have diehard fans in Scotland who never knew anything else other than wind and rain and huddling on terraces in heavy coats  but that doesn't mean that this has to continue just because  some folks cling to tradition because it's emotionally comfortable.

 

Why do some monks flagellate themselves  on the back with whips ..does it make them any happier and/or more spiritual? 

 

It's like saying "We used to ride bicycles to work despite the weather so why should I buy a car just to keep myself and the bairns warm and dry when they hit the road running into the school yard. Much better that they arrive wet and chittering with cold--because it  did ME no harm (cough, cough, ) when I was a boy or girl (Wheeze, cough, cough) and it will make strong adults out of them ( Jennie, can you bring my pain medication over, I can't get up  'cos my rheumatics is killing me...")

:lol:  :crazy:

 

Global warming is having a greater and greater effect on weather patterns.  Storms and hurricanes devastating areas all over the world, torrential rain like I have never seen before sweeping in  from the Pacific Ocean and one metre of snow overnight in the  East of Canada, melting Arctic ice, etc., are alarming occurrences that indicate it 'aint going to get better anytime soon.

And IHE's aquifer just can't cope any more...... :notworthy:

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I have no problem embracing change SP. It simply would not work. Football has enough to compete with when the weather is foul. In the summer , I believe, other distractions would decimate crowds. The changes we need are in league reconstruction, terracing and innovation in price structuring etc. And Alex.........most of the extra traffic on the A9 is in the form of caravans...........and we know where they are heading!

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I like the idea of summer football - but there are other things that need addressed first if Scotland is to have anywhere decent, reasonably well-supported, professional football. If we can tackle the 3 issues Naelifts lists: Pricing, Stadia Layout, League Structure then it might not need the life support machine some are predicting. Bribing Celtic to leave us in peace and sticking a stake in Sevco's blue heart would also help...but that's just a personal view.

 

Anyway, regarding summer football, we just got soft. Open terracing, nylon anorak, soggy scarf wrapped around head...ah yes, there was a happy time before global warming...

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