Captains rate Hunter Stadium pitch worst in A-League
By ROBERT DILLON
Feb. 13, 2014, 10:55 p.m.
HUNTER Venues general manager Bicci Henderson is surprised players have voted Hunter Stadium the worst pitch in the A-League and says it has been judged on ‘‘appearance’’ rather than how it plays.
Professional Footballers Australia surveys away-team captains every week to rate the A-League’s playing fields under the criteria of hardness, pace and smoothness by scoring each out of five, to produce an overall average.
According to the statistics provided to the Herald yesterday by PFA, Hunter Stadium received the lowest overall average, 2.97, while Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford scored the highest, 4.33.
The discontent with Turton Road was no anomaly.
Since PFA introduced pitch ratings five seasons ago, Newcastle’s turf has earned an unwanted reputation for being consistently poor.
In 2009-10 it was voted the worst surface, then 10th of 11 in 2010-11, last in 2011-12 and sixth of 10 last season.
The four pitches that were ranked below Newcastle last season, Bluetongue, Suncorp, Westpac and Allianz Stadiums, have all scored more highly this season, while Hunter Stadium’s average has declined from 3.38 to 2.97.
Henderson, who manages Hunter Stadium on behalf of the state government, said in a perfect world the pitch would be resurfaced.
But he insisted that ‘‘if you ask the players, the pitch plays true, always has’’.
‘‘A lot of it is often about the appearance,’’ Henderson said.
‘‘I’d like to talk to the captains about it because noone gets injured on our field.
‘‘It’s not the sort of field where people get constant injuries ... when the players kick the ball, it runs where they want it to run and it does all the right things.
‘‘It doesn’t hit divots and bounce up and down.
‘‘It’s just appearance wise. I think some of the visiting teams are a bit surprised by the raise of the ground, if you like. The ground is not flat. And most of them are used to playing on dead flat surfaces.’’
Given that Newcastle will host international matches next year as part of the Asian Cup tournament, resurfacing the clay-based playing arena is one option being considered.
‘‘We’re certainly looking at that, and there is a push to get that done,’’ Henderson.
Asked how much that would cost, he said it would probably be ‘‘a minimum’’ of $1million but declined to speculate on how that funding would be sourced.
Jets chief executive Robbie Middleby said he felt it was ‘‘imperative’’ the ground was returfed before the Asian Cup, which will showcase Newcastle to millions of TV viewers overseas.
‘‘We’ve spoken to Hunter Venues numerous times about it and they realise that with the Asian Cup coming up, the pitch needs to improve,’’ Middleby said yesterday.
‘‘It’s just the cost of that.
‘‘Resurfacing it is the only answer. It doesn’t matter how much water or this and that they put into it.
‘‘The groundsman has been doing a good job, considering what he has to work with.
‘‘But it needs a new surface and an underlay. That’s going to cost a lot of money, but it would be money well spent.’’
PFA general manager Adam Vivien said any pitch that consistently rated poorly with the players was ‘‘obviously a concern’’.
‘‘Why we’re concerned is that if the pitch is not of a good standard and not rated highly by the players, it becomes very difficult to put on the spectacle that the fans deserve,’’ Vivian said.
‘‘There is also the occupational health-and-safety issue as well from playing on pitches that are substandard.’’
Newcastle’s pitch was partially resurfaced, at short notice, before David Backham’s LA Galaxy team visited in November 2010, after it was damaged by a motocross event. The repairs left it with a patchy appearance, but it was in poor condition long before then.
In December 2009, when the playing surface was probably at its worst, Jets marquee player Fabio Vignaroli tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee changing direction and was forced to retire.
Eighteen months later, the pitch was still being criticised by PFA.
When Hunter Venues was created to manage the stadium in April 2011, then chief executive Mark Zundans declared: ‘‘We’ll be making a concerted effort to ensure that we have one of the premier pitches in Australia.’’
Despite minor improvement last season, it is again back at the bottom of the heap in the A-League.
With rain forecast, tonight’s Super Rugby clash between the NSW Waratahs and Otago Highlanders is unlikely to enhance the pitch’s state.
Meanwhile, the Jets named new signing David Carney in an 18-man squad yesterday for Sunday’s game against leaders Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium.
Carney’s fitness will be assessed at a training session this morning.
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/20...league/?cs=306
Originally Posted by plague
