Goal Mouth and Goals on Lance Yorke, Garden Suburb

Hopefully this is in the right place and the mods don't mind it being here.

This is a plea to the people (I am hoping they read this or someone who knows them reads it) who keep putting the goals on Lance Yorke Field at Garden Suburb in place.

Our goal mouth was destroyed over the offseason by people taking the goals from where they are stored, installing them and having a kick around. The goal area never got a chance to recover.

The goals were padlocked to the fence behind the ground, these locks were cut on numerous occasions.

The goals were moved to the carpark and chained up, again the locks were cut and and the goals put in the field. In the end we realised locking the goals was a futile exercise.

Unfortunately the goals are at that point in their life that we cant pull them apart and store them in the club house anymore. Not if we want them to go back together. New goals are coming next season.

The club tried to re-turf these areas, only to have further damage occur three weeks out from the season before the grass had fully taken leading to the sandpit that has been complained about on here. We have had star pickets and bunting removed to allow the goals to go back in.

We are 99% sure that it is not our club members using the ground based on descriptions of people leaving the ground and descriptions of cars. From kit I have seen people wearing, and pictures on social media, I am reasonably sure of the clubs people are coming from, but won't go into that here as I don't think it is the respective clubs issue.

Again today the goals were put back in place by people we believe know are not club members. They were spotted by a parent dropping off a player to training that wasn't comfortable moving them on. We have number plates and will be speaking with Council as to whether anything can be done, however this is really just a request to people to leave the goals where they are.

Not only is the pitch not getting a chance to recover in the goal mouth, Council will not mow the good parts in that area of the pitch if the goals are in place.

Please, if you want to have a kick at our ground, use the top fields. The goal in the south eastern corner isn't used in any matches and has the best grass coverage. We have no issue with any of the goals on the top ground being used by anyone, but stay off the main ground.

They must be keen for a kick at goal cutting locks to get at them, trying to keep goal mouth areas in good nick for the season is the most frustrating exercise, barriers and asking just doesn't work when you can't lock your grounds up

electrify them

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Originally Posted by RANGER09

They must be keen for a kick at goal cutting locks to get at them, trying to keep goal mouth areas in good nick for the season is the most frustrating exercise, barriers and asking just doesn't work when you can't lock your grounds up

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I don't understand why you would go to all that effort for a kick considering the pitch around the goalmouth could compete with Stockton Beach.

id assume its because its very well fenced directly behind the goals, don't have to chase your s*&t

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Originally Posted by NUGUNS

I don't understand why you would go to all that effort for a kick considering the pitch around the goalmouth could compete with Stockton Beach.

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I think at the moment there is more sand on the penalty spot than there is on stockton beach.

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Originally Posted by Nou Camp

id assume its because its very well fenced directly behind the goals, don't have to chase your s*&t

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Ive no doubt that is the reason.

There is a goal mouth on the top field that has the best grass at the club, actually better than most pitches Ive played on this season, but as there is no fence behind it no one uses it.

take the fence behind the goals away during the off season, or alternatively, use land mines

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Originally Posted by boz-monaut

take the fence behind the goals away during the off season, or alternatively, use land mines

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We are getting new goals in the off season, so they can be dismantled and stored in the shed. I am hoping this stops that area of the ground being used and it can have a full off season to recover. The fact we can't put the goals away is obviously too big a temptation for some to not take advantage of it.

What shits me is that it appears to be people from other clubs disrespecting the grounds. If you don't want to trash your own, don't come and trash ours.

i iamgine most clubs have the same problem with training in goal mouth area, our's are no different, big bare patches yet coaches keep training in the same spot no matter what advice you give them.
We will be look at installing sleeves off the pitch for training and only using removeable posts for game days to limit the wear in these areas.
Aslo have the problem of people not involved with the club coming down using the same goal mouth for training as they are the closest to the road, and closer than going to their own clubs grounds to practice.

If our goals were permanently fixed in the ground, I could understand it and probably wounded have as big an issue (granted I still wouldn't be happy). But people are going out of the way to get the goals out of the chains that hold them to the fence and put them in the sleeves.

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Originally Posted by RANGER09

We will be look at installing sleeves off the pitch for training and only using removeable posts for game days to limit the wear in these areas.

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We are doing just this on the top ground in the off season. As we are turning the top field around 90 degrees, we will have 10m either side of the field to put in multiple sets of sleeves (using the current goals) allowing them to be moved around. Being off the pitch though, it won't matter so much if the training goal areas get chewed up.

This is definitely a big frustration for all groundskeepers. My mate Glenn at Valo taught me a lot but then he ended up calling me a dickhead.