The Falkirk FC Thread

[Reggie Perrin]

37 minutes ago, Hank von Hell said:

Hey Boss, this is us on the way to Stranraer , COYB

Hey Mark , this is ma boay's new haircut - he has the steeple shaved on his heid - dýe like it?

Hey MC , would you buy our golf club in Polmont? 

 

Eternally embarrassing. Funny how he's never tweeted a thing since his "bid" went tits up - almost as if the whole thing was just a vehicle to dupe (some of ) the fans.  

 

If these people were Americans they would be voting for Trump tomorrow.

Thats how gullible they are.

[Ranaldo Bairn]

58 minutes ago, FFC 1876 said:

Do we not own the pitch that has just been built beside the stadium? As if we do and that can be used for training then a move back to grass would be the ideal. The plan is to get back to the premiership and some players will choose not to play for us if we still have an astroturf pitch. Back when we had a grass pitch we had one of the best kept pitches in the country so it would be good to get back to that as I feel it's much easier to play football on a grass pitch. 

For the few years in the run up to getting astro down our pitch was disgraceful. 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Ranaldo Bairn

[MrDust]

3 hours ago, Ranaldo Bairn said:

For the few years in the run up to getting astro down our pitch was disgraceful. 

When Jim Dawson left to be precise 

[LatapyBairn.]

9 hours ago, FFC 1876 said:

Do we not own the pitch that has just been built beside the stadium? As if we do and that can be used for training then a move back to grass would be the ideal. The plan is to get back to the premiership and some players will choose not to play for us if we still have an astroturf pitch. Back when we had a grass pitch we had one of the best kept pitches in the country so it would be good to get back to that as I feel it's much easier to play football on a grass pitch. 

Not sure if it’s ideal to be training on 4G then playing on grass come Saturday, then there’s also how to fill the shortfall in income the pitch generates through events and pitch hire. Ultimately these decisions effect how much we can spend on the playing budget ect. We’d also have to look at re-installing undersoil heating. When you weight up the pros and cons it doesn’t really make financial sense to revert back to grass unless we were an established premier league club with the income that entails. 

Edited November 3, 2020 by LatapyBairn.

[NavyBlueArmy1876]

Are the Shire still playing on it too? In that case surely any new grass surface would get done in pretty quickly. We only installed it 7 years ago but it's already looking a bit ropey...I doubt it's got another two years left, though the lifespan was meant to be 8-10 so I suppose that's not too bad. I understand we havent had close to the rent financial returns on it we were promised though? All things considered I'd be happy enough for the club to go plastic again, particularly if the renewal costs are reduced due to the under building layers already being in place this time.

[Shadwell Dog]

2 hours ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Not sure if it’s ideal to be training on 4G then playing on grass come Saturday, then there’s also how to fill the shortfall in income the pitch generates through events and pitch hire. Ultimately these decisions effect how much we can spend on the playing budget ect. We’d also have to look at re-installing undersoil heating. When you weight up the pros and cons it doesn’t really make financial sense to revert back to grass unless we were an established premier league club with the income that entails. 

Exactly. No manager would want his side training on plastic all week and then playing on grass every other Saturday. The new pitch is owned by the foundation anyway so any training would need to be fitted in around their needs. I can't see grass being considered until as you say we are in the top flight again which is some way off at the moment unfortunately but the costs of funding a training base to go with the new pitch are just too much especially when you are losing out on pitch hire.  A grass pitch getting played on every week would be dreadful anyway so you have to also factor the shires lease into it.

 

[Reggie Perrin]

16 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

Exactly. No manager would want his side training on plastic all week and then playing on grass every other Saturday. The new pitch is owned by the foundation anyway so any training would need to be fitted in around their needs. I can't see grass being considered until as you say we are in the top flight again which is some way off at the moment unfortunately but the costs of funding a training base to go with the new pitch are just too much especially when you are losing out on pitch hire.  A grass pitch getting played on every week would be dreadful anyway so you have to also factor the shires lease into it.

 

A halfway competent grounds man with an appropriate budget should be able to maintain a decent quality grass pitch even with the additional wear from the Shire agreement.

[Shadwell Dog]

10 minutes ago, Reggie Perrin said:

A halfway competent grounds man with an appropriate budget should be able to maintain a decent quality grass pitch even with the additional wear from the Shire agreement.

 I mind the mess our pitch used to get in when we were sharing with the rugby and that was only for a few weeks. Past experience of grounds shares at the likes of firhill , fir park and broadwood when it was grass was that the pitches were always dreadful.

Edited November 3, 2020 by Shadwell Dog

[Ranaldo Bairn]

1 hour ago, NavyBlueArmy1876 said:

Are the Shire still playing on it too? In that case surely any new grass surface would get done in pretty quickly. We only installed it 7 years ago but it's already looking a bit ropey...I doubt it's got another two years left, though the lifespan was meant to be 8-10 so I suppose that's not too bad. I understand we havent had close to the rent financial returns on it we were promised though? All things considered I'd be happy enough for the club to go plastic again, particularly if the renewal costs are reduced due to the under building layers already being in place this time.

I seem to recall a 5 year lifetime was quoted (might well be wrong though).

In which case it's done pretty well.

[Dawson Park Boy]

33 minutes ago, Ranaldo Bairn said:

I seem to recall a 5 year lifetime was quoted (might well be wrong though).

In which case it's done pretty well.

No- we got it during Gary Holts tenure and the manufacturers attended an AGM and said 10 years minimum.

Prior to the meeting Gary went to Holland to test it.

[Ranaldo Bairn]

47 minutes ago, Dawson Park Boy said:

No- we got it during Gary Holts tenure and the manufacturers attended an AGM and said 10 years minimum.

Prior to the meeting Gary went to Holland to test it.

ok, I mis-remembered it then.

[Dawson Park Boy]

3 hours ago, Ranaldo Bairn said:

ok, I mis-remembered it then.

No problem.

Keep coming out with the all time greats.

[HopeStreetWalker]

5 hours ago, Shadwell Dog said:

 I mind the mess our pitch used to get in when we were sharing with the rugby and that was only for a few weeks. Past experience of grounds shares at the likes of firhill , fir park and broadwood when it was grass was that the pitches were always dreadful.

Remember the Jimmy Silcock pitches at Brockville on the late 60's early 70's  Superb considering the non existent budget and equipment. How he kept them playable was a tribute to his skill. Left to go to a golf course I think !

[HopeStreetWalker]

19 hours ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Was said at the AGM  pitch still has another two seasons life span so will be replaced after that. I doubt we will see a move back to grass especially if there are to be increased numbers using the pitch with talk of a new youth set up being implemented, added to that the club would loose the additional income the 4G pitch currently generates and would have to find a base to train from in the winter months.  It’s only the “carpet” that is replaced apparently on these 4G surfaces keeping the costs down. It’s not another full re-lay as it is when the surface is first installed. 

Fair enough ! Cost benefit analysis then to decide the outlay and yearly write off ! Has to be done and there must have been advances since it was installed. Would prefer turf think anybody would but that's for the top division - Now that is a nice problem to have !

[Rugster]

10 hours ago, Bantabairn said:

He kept the pitch in a remarkable condition during his reign, hence he got the top ground-mans  job at the SRU. Not sure of the rules with underground heating, but is it still a requirement for top flight football ?

 

No. Adequate pitch protection is the new buzz phrase, not specifically under soil heating

[Shadwell Dog]

2 hours ago, HopeStreetWalker said:

Fair enough ! Cost benefit analysis then to decide the outlay and yearly write off ! Has to be done and there must have been advances since it was installed. Would prefer turf think anybody would but that's for the top division - Now that is a nice problem to have !

You get what you pay for at the end of the day. Livies and coves are both newer than ours but look awful. You'd be hard pushed to get a better one than the one we've  had to be honest. 

I seem to remember that part of the plan for the pitch was that money would be ringfenced over its lifespan to pay for its replacement.  Anyone know if that's still the case?

[HopeStreetWalker]

5 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

You get what you pay for at the end of the day. Livies and coves are both newer than ours but look awful. You'd be hard pushed to get a better one than the one we've  had to be honest. 

I seem to remember that part of the plan for the pitch was that money would be ringfenced over its lifespan to pay for its replacement.  Anyone know if that's still the case?

Buy quality as its better value for money buy cheap pay dear in the long run.

[Shadwell Dog]

20 minutes ago, HopeStreetWalker said:

Buy quality as its better value for money buy cheap pay dear in the long run.

There still seems to be a large variation in standard going by the look of cove and livies compared to ours and the likes of Raith.

[Shadwell Dog]

I reckon we should be keeping our eye on the boy frizzell now at Dumbarton. Always liked him at Kilmarnock and was surprised no bigger clubs took a punt on him. Think he's only signed till January .

[HopeStreetWalker]

1 hour ago, Shadwell Dog said:

There still seems to be a large variation in standard going by the look of cove and livies compared to ours and the likes of Raith.

Put it out to tender and let the manufacturers make their pitches excusing the pun. Features , Benefits , Costs , Payment terms , Length of warranty.

It a buyers market and in the long term it could be great value for the club to buy now.