Adam Brammer tweeted...

Adam Brammer ‏<s style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(187, 187, 187); ">@</s>ajbrammer<small class="time" style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(187, 187, 187); position: relative; float: right; margin-top: 1px; ">15m</small>
Apparently Charlton declined a pitch inspection yesterday because there were no issues. <s style="text-decoration: none; ">#</s>BarnsleyFC

tut tut tut ...

 

How can there be no issues on Friday - then no rain / dome over pitch - and then need a pitch inspection with 2 hours to go?

Disgraceful.

 

how serous was the problem here's what Charlton have to tackle -

Following the postponement of Charlton's FA Cup third round tie against Oxford United, the club has confirmed plans to address the ongoing problems relating to the Valley pitch




Olly Groome reports




Following the postponement of Charlton's FA Cup third round tie against Oxford United, which was due to be played on Saturday, club ground staff have confirmed plans to address the ongoing problems relating to the Valley pitch.




The game has been rearranged by the FA for Wednesday, January 8th, but the club anticipate it is unlikely to go ahead on that date due to the ongoing weather and current condition of the surface.




Fans are encouraged to prepare for a further announcement with an alternative date for the fixture.




The Valley's turf has struggled to cope with the recent adverse weather, with some areas waterlogged while others have simply failed to recover.




With the state of the pitch becoming a growing concern, Deputy Head Groundsman Nathan Chapman discussed the options to return it to optimum condition.




He said: “We're going to place a dome on the surface for a week to dry the pitch out and then we can work with the bigger machinery to get it flat and dried out to a level where it's playable.




Chapman revealed the Valley pitch's woes of late are attributed to a partial collapse of its drainage system which cannot be rectified until the end of the current campaign.




“We're in this predicament because the pitch hasn't had any sufficient drainage work done on it for the past 16 or 17 years," he said.




"The drainage system is collapsed at one end which prevents any water from going through and as a result it just holds on the surface.




“The drainage runs are all sealed and capped and don't run into the main chamber so there is no movement. The water just sits at the top, taking a very long time to go through.”




He continued: “The only way to permanently solve the problem is to wait until the summer when we will put into action plans of a new drainage system which will then be sufficient enough.




“The reason we can't do it now is because we need to dig the whole pitch up and pretty much start again. We are hopeful we won't have a problem getting through these next tricky few months."

Read more at http://www.cafc.co.uk/news/article/...ying-surface-1273864.aspx#Bygct7BdcdYbjbl0.99

 

FA need to look into this.

 

Sounds badly maintained and has gone unchecked.

 

All well and good;

so to recap - they've got a problem with the drainage system; they've had a dome put over the pitch for a week to stop more water getting onto the pitch;

BUT - what have they done to remove the surface water? Sounds like nothing. They have a week to remove surface from a football pitch - with a dome over it to stop more rain getting on it. How hard can it be? They've got loads of groundstaff because the guy doing the report was the "Deputy Head Groundsman" ffs.

Sounds to me like they've done sweet f.a.

 

Plenty of groundsmen, but only sponge.

 

........and flannel