As one of the few pitches at our level with few weather based cancellations it is a shame to lose the grass pitch. But pragmatism says that if the academy teams will now use it week in and week out plus training, then maintaining the surface for the whole season becomes a challenge especially if we want to see the kind of fast passing play that should be encouraged. I imagine the slope has some contribution to the drainage of the pitch, so does it automatically follow that an artificial surface means it must be level?

The Chairman mentioned the slope at the Commercial meeting back in May 2022, and maximum slope we can have is 6 feet, if considering changing to a 4g surface. The current slope diagonally from the top refreshment hut to the turnstiles is 10ft, so we will have to level off 4 ft, which will be a considerable expense before you consider the cost of converting. I’m not sure if the club qualifies for a grant due to Stanley Park having had a considerable grant from the Football Foundation - sorry to sound negative but it will prove very costly !!

Insideleft wrote:

I assume they have to be level.  Anyone been to Hemel since they went to the dark side? They had a slope I seem to recall.

I have, and from memory it is now flat, The stand at one end is now really low to the pitch and the other end is situated well above the goal.