Covers

[PullMyFinger]

I would prefer a fully enclosed stadium with a roof to keep the rain out.

Does anyone else remember a guy who wanted to buy the club and build one? Whatever happened to him? He was nuts.

I'm still here, talk to me after Friday.

[+CaleyD]

Part of the problem with covers is that they can only be used for a few hours before they actually start doing damage too the grass itself...go out and lay a sheet over your lawn for a day and you'll see what happens. The problem is made worse when USH is also in use at the same time (you damage roots and blades at same time), and then add in the playing of a match on top of already weakened/damaged grass and the pitch is on a hiding to nothing and won't maintain it's condition for very long.

What you actually need is a cover which sits up off the surface of the pitch and allows the grass to continue breathing. A quick google search brings up the name "Macleod Covers" and they look to be a very simple setup. Basically a cover stretched over the pitch with an inflatable tunnel running down the middle to hold it up off the surface. The material seems to be some kind of parachute type material...I'm guessing that because it's raised and sloped it doesn't need to be 100% waterproof as rain will run off and not seep through.

Not sure how much the above would cost, but standard "lay on" pitch covers look to be in the ?25k to ?30k and upwards range.

[Alex MacLeod]

CD, the MacLeod system is a pitch protection that also provides heat. The idea is that the cover is stitched in such a way that when the fans are on it has a ripple effect. Like a serious of polytunnels. The fans used are industrial gas burners and can provide the same protection as USH. Cost actually works out a lot less. Middlesborough FC use this system. Sadly the SPL insist on USH.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I assume that I will be berated but are we not all forgetting the Aquifer ??

[Alex MacLeod]

I assume that I will be berated but are we not all forgetting the Aquifer ??

The aquifer is below ground. The troublesome water is above. And ne'er the twain shall meet.

[Scarlet Pimple]

So what you are referring to is the Hitler-era HINDENBURG travel balloon.

Oh well, that didn't last long either-the hydrogen used to inflate it caught on fire and the rest is history.

[Charles Bannerman]

Drains Charlie, drains.

Yes, I'm quite aware that this is the answer in theory but with the nearest ones sometimes 40 metres away from where the water is falling, that's quite a distance for water to travel over an uneven plastic surface and quite a concentration of it if and when it gets there.

Half an inch of rain on a football pitch looks to me like upwards of 20,000 gallons of water. A lot for drains at the side of the pitch to cope with.

[tm4tj]

OK. I'll spell it out for you. Sometimes people have to get their hands dirty. In this situation, a JCB.

I'm not talking about puny little drains that will flood at the mere mention of the weather forecast, we are talking culvert sized drains, proper man drains. I'm pretty sure the logistics of it would not be a major issue, only the funding of it would cause concern, but if the chairman's statement is true then surely it is viable.

According to George Fraser in the Courier, ICT could be losing up to ?100,000, money down the drain, or not as the case may be.

[FoolPhysio]

CD, the MacLeod system is a pitch protection that also provides heat. The idea is that the cover is stitched in such a way that when the fans are on it has a ripple effect. Like a serious of polytunnels. The fans used are industrial gas burners and can provide the same protection as USH. Cost actually works out a lot less. Middlesborough FC use this system. Sadly the SPL insist on USH.

Interesting - so this may be a more effective methods of not just keeping the rain / snow off, but can also heat up frozen pitches? Mind you, will it heat it to sufficient depth?

If this really is the better option, why not buy it and install it? SPL may stipulate that we have USH, and we have. But do the rules specify that we need to turn it on though . . .? Cut out the running costs (and don't bother with the maintenance unless for safety reasons) and use the better method just to prove it actually IS better!

[Alex MacLeod]

CD, the MacLeod system is a pitch protection that also provides heat. The idea is that the cover is stitched in such a way that when the fans are on it has a ripple effect. Like a serious of polytunnels. The fans used are industrial gas burners and can provide the same protection as USH. Cost actually works out a lot less. Middlesborough FC use this system. Sadly the SPL insist on USH.

Interesting - so this may be a more effective methods of not just keeping the rain / snow off, but can also heat up frozen pitches? Mind you, will it heat it to sufficient depth?

If this really is the better option, why not buy it and install it? SPL may stipulate that we have USH, and we have. But do the rules specify that we need to turn it on though . . .? Cut out the running costs (and don't bother with the maintenance unless for safety reasons) and use the better method just to prove it actually IS better!

The point is not about heating a frozen pitch. Its about not allowing it to become frozen in the first place.