Do you think Accy should now be allowed to play home games on Neutral venues?

[BigDaveCUFC]

Ignoring the accy Manager comments on Carlisle as people may think I've posted this from that stuff back in December...............I haven't.

Just a genuine question, with accrington now having such a backlog, is it not best the Fa for interest of L2 to allow them option to play elsewhere for a while?

or do you think it should be allowed to carry on.

they at least have afew good options which would not cost them financially like Blackburn/Burnley

 

[wilsontown]

I tend to think that while Carlisle United can hardly be blamed for the fact that their ground was several feet underwater, the problem is really with Accrington's facilities and as such they need to either sort out their pitch or suck up the consequences. That does feel a bit harsh, though.

 

[daviejones]

Ignoring the accy Manager comments on Carlisle as people may think I've posted this from that stuff back in December...............I haven't.

Just a genuine question, with accrington now having such a backlog, is it not best the Fa for interest of L2 to allow them option to play elsewhere for a while?

or do you think it should be allowed to carry on.

they at least have afew good options which would not cost them financially like Blackburn/Burnley

Has the option not always been there for them? I didn't think we got special dispensation, just figured that we actually bothered to organise the games at other venues and had enough offers whereas Accy didn't know how many games would be off and couldn't do that. I wouldn't have thought there'd be a problem if Accy wanted to do the same thing.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

I remember Gateshead were allowed to move games elsewhere, but I think that was for a set longer period when they knew it was unplayable.

agree with what you say Wilsontown but one thing I've taken from our problems is our pitch relay is nearly £200,000......none of us have that sort've money to just sort it all out, we're only getting it from insurance.

It happens every season and disrupts L2, surely it may make sense in future to arrange them to play elsewhere in December

 

[Stanleyfan]

This has been mentioned amongst our fans - our last home match was on Nov 14 and even that was a bit of a farce with lots of surface water.
Our four home games in hand are against Hartlepool, Carlisle, Wycombe and Notts County. We are at home to Portsmouth this sat - if that gets called off there's going to be a few problems.
Apart from the Hartlepool game Im not aware of any re-arranged dates yet. As I type this now its raining very heavily outside - it never seems to be ending!
If we do move any home games it will be interesting to hear Coley's comments...

By the way our board are wanting to get a roof on the away end - better late than never!

 

[Amber Nectar]

In answer to the original question then no. Accrington are responsible for their own pitch, including making sure it drains properly. You can't compare their situation to Carlisle's.

 

[djs]

Agree totally with Amber Nectar.

 

[UTS]

Could help them later on in the season when they have a big run of home games

 

[shoddycollins]

Could help them later on in the season when they have a big run of home games

I remember this happened to Crawley the season we got relegated from League 1, they dropped from mid-table into the relegation fight and most thought they'd struggle to make the gap back up again with the fixture congestion, but make it up they did.

 

[daviejones]

I remember this happened to Crawley the season we got relegated from League 1, they dropped from mid-table into the relegation fight and most thought they'd struggle to make the gap back up again with the fixture congestion, but make it up they did.

That was ridiculous, they were 6 or 7 games behind some teams IIRC

 

[ASFC Tom]

First post on this forum....

We're not far off being 6 games behind a few teams! It's rained nearly every day for weeks and weeks in Lancashire, with little chance for the pitch to drain/recover. I can't see this being an advantage to us - at some point we are going to have a big problem with fixture congestion, and our home form has been mediocre so far. All this coupled with the fact our (arguably) to best players have signed to join Rangers at the end of the season and could be distracted - I worry we are going to face a slump in form...

 

[Tom_CUFC]

Simple solution, spend less on players and more on your infrastructure. If you don't have enough money to provide facilities suitable for this level, then you shouldn't be here.

 

[Vanni]

First post on this forum....

We're not far off being 6 games behind a few teams! It's rained nearly every day for weeks and weeks in Lancashire, with little chance for the pitch to drain/recover. I can't see this being an advantage to us - at some point we are going to have a big problem with fixture congestion, and our home form has been mediocre so far. All this coupled with the fact our (arguably) to best players have signed to join Rangers at the end of the season and could be distracted - I worry we are going to face a slump in form...

Welcome to the forum Tom! We sure could use more Stanley fans

 

[ThisTinpotLeague]

Simple solution, spend less on players and more on your infrastructure. If you don't have enough money to provide facilities suitable for this level, then you shouldn't be here.

I love the idea of making football more about money and less about 22 blokes chasing a ball around a field, could you run for president of FIFA?

 

[Flaxman's Alibi]

Getting a playing surface supremely fit for league football isn't always the cheapest of things. We at Mansfield have always struggled with our drainage - despite Mansfield sand being used at almost every premier sporting venue in the country. This year we've spent a few bob and have now got our best pitch in years.

People should have some sympathy for Accy. I'm not trying to patronize but financially they are always kicking up hill and punching above their weight.
I won't lie and suggest I know much about their income and their pitch, however, I'd wager that they haven't got tens of thousands just lying around for new drainage systems or even a controversial 4G pitch.

So wouldn't it be kinda refreshing if the FL, and the gambling industry could come up with a fund to allow the less well off clubs to get the surface that would allow them all to apply their trades and just get along with what everyone wants?

On a side issue, wouldn't a club like Accrington Stanley be the ideal candidate for a proper 4G pitch? No more games off and the chance of extra income.

To answer the original question, I personally think that Accy should be allowed to play elsewhere. If the backlog prevented them from a promotion it would be horrible for them as they have a cracking side there and my utmost respect for how they play.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

I agree with the above post really,

Pitches cost £200,000 pretty much, (although I think for all the money football has it should surely be able to fund this for Accy I feel) but this disruption just causes problems for most teams all though season, sides who by now have 2-3 games in hand, some have 7-10 point gaps, some can rest injuries etc, etc

and it seems to always be Accrington.........so it would be nice to see them be able to get some funding for a proper pitch solution or allowed to maybe play some games at Burnley, Blackburn, maybe Morecambe if needed.

 

[mowgli]

I thought someone had invested a lot of money in the club recently so why not spend some of it on drainage?

 

[Pirateer]

This is a defnite concern for me given the recent rain and cold snap forcast (and a number of my mates) as we had to book train tickets two months ago to get a decent price and more recently game tickets. i can see us all throwing away £60+ each at this rate.

 

[Carver]

They should seek help and advice from other clubs and stop living in the dark ages of English football.

 

[AdamStag]

It's hard what's happened.

Hopefully the floods will mean they have a backup of games and don't make the playoffs given their small squad, but it's not ideal to be wishing Ill on other clubs due to factors out of their control.

But yeah, if the next game goes due to bad weather they are going to.

The only unfortunate thing for Accrington is that they only have 5 home fans in the first place, what happens when only 2 of that 5 makes the journey to somewhere far away? Not going to do them much financially is it?

Accrington don't have the backing or possible money Carlisle have

 

[Judge Red]

Well I'm not going to sit in my greenhouse throwing stones after what happened with us a couple of winters ago. I do sympathise. It shoudn't be forgotten that Accrington are having to continue paying wages whie having no matchday income. That can cause cashflow problems. Also, when the games are eventually played, they will be lumped together and the supporters may have to choose more carefully which to watch if their own funds are tight.
Our own problem was resolved with a major pitch makeover to sort out drainage. I may be wrong but it sounds like that was our sugar daddy's doing, so it may not have been possible without his (their?) funds. That has now slowed to a trickle in football terms and I hear it will stop completely at the end of this season.
Good luck to Accrington. I've a soft spot for them as we clinched promotion there a few years ago. Excellent day out, but I'd hate to be on that uncovered terrace on a cold wet windy day.

 

[shoddycollins]

Accrington postponed again

We got a payout as well as using our own money from the Premier League Fans Fun to help with pitch repairs.

A bit different for Accrington as their pitch doesn't need repaired, just better drainage which isn't as huge a cost. But since they have less money overall and, they've now lost five home games to flooding where we only lost four, should they be considered for a grant to help too?

 

[hellogregory]

Frozen today, waterlogged last week.

Will accrington ever play a home game again?

It's a good job they are out of the cups as there wouldn't be enough Tuesday nights in the calendar to fit all these games in!

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Some pretty mean spirited comments above, feel pretty sorry for Accrington as it doesn't seem to be any fault of their own.

Cannot be good for them financially at all and the longer it goes on the less likely they are going to be able to pay for what obviously needs to be done to the pitch. If there is some sort of grant funding available to clubs in this predicament then it definitely should be made available to them. If anymore games get called off then they will surely have to investigate other venues for home matches.

 

[ThisTinpotLeague]

Some pretty mean spirited comments above, feel pretty sorry for Accrington as it doesn't seem to be any fault of their own.

In all seriousness, I have to agree. It's a massive shame to see the spiteful attitude towards another club and a group of supporters. There's enough money in the professional game to help out the little guy. Getting that sort of thing sorted should be the priority.

 

[Carver]

In all seriousness, I have to agree. It's a massive shame to see the spiteful attitude towards another club and a group of supporters. There's enough money in the professional game to help out the little guy. Getting that sort of thing sorted should be the priority.

It's nothing really to do with money, it's simply the fact that they don't look after their facilities well enough to match football league standards of today.

 

[shoddycollins]

Good to see they finally got a game on... shame for us they won it comfortably (thought it was against Hartlepool).

Puts the kaibosh on the song I was planning for the Wham stadium.

Last christmas, we played one at home,
and the following year, we'll play there again.
Next year to save us from tears, we'll play them at somewhere dryer.