Why is Chelsea's pitch so bad?

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There has been a lot of talk recently regarding Chelsea's pitch and whether they are keeping it in such a bad state before the arrival of Barcelona in the Champions League. What I dont understand is how it repeatedly gets in to such a bad state when they have the resources to look after it, have a completely enclosed stadium protecting the surface from the harshest of conditions and a far milder climate than some of the northern clubs who have far better pitches? In comparison to Highbury which has the same climatic conditions as Stamford Bridge, the pitch does not even compare.
 
I think you can only change the turf once a season, they obviously don't want a nice pitch for Barcelona to take advantage of because the Chelsea players have got quite used to playing on their crap pitch. :D
 
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Apparently relaying the pitch too often as they have done in the past can cause problems in the long term.

Scott Parker also reckons he got injured because of a relayed pitch.
 
Some stadia are just not conducive to good pitches, plus you also have better groundsman than others.

Portman Road has won awards for best pitch/best groundsman several times.

Chelsea have apparently got into a cycle of replacing their pitch half way through a season - this means that when the pitch is re-layed in the summer, it doesn't have enough time to bed or something, meaning it has to be re-layed midway through the next season.
 
daz said:
Some stadia are just not conducive to good pitches, plus you also have better groundsman than others.

Portman Road has won awards for best pitch/best groundsman several times.

It used to help being sponsered by Fisons too;)

The worst pitch I have seen this season was the Bury v Rushden game, it was similar to playing in a swamp. Old Skool Football :D
 
the pitch is bad because of the barcelona game....
barcelona are a passing team and they are using the bad pitch to upset their way of playing...
and if it doesnt come off... and chelsea lose the game.... they have an excuse... they can blame it on the pitch!!!
 
Newcastle used to change the turf twice a season , once in the summer and once just before Christmas @ £500k a shot.

Apparently the stands stop the sunlight getting to the grass and therefore it cant repair itself , even though the larger stands have glass roofs.

Recently they bought one of those uv machines on wheels that they move round the pitch and its done wonders , the pitch is top notch.
Not sure of the running costs but it has to be substantially less than £1m per season.
 
Vandle said:
Recently they bought one of those uv machines on wheels that they move round the pitch and its done wonders , the pitch is top notch.
Not sure of the running costs but it has to be substantially less than £1m per season.

Arsenal have been using that system this season to see how it works ready for next season at Ashburton. The leccy bills must be something else!
 
Why is this a story?
Seriously....why is there such media interest, driving public comment, in the grass on a football pitch?
Its absolutely playing into JM's hands that "the world is out to get us" - the reasoning will be that "they are having a go at us for every single thing, even the grass"......
The mind boggles as to why this has been the subject of radio phone ins, news stories, paper column inches....

You look at the threads in this forum and every other one seems to be about/related to Chelsea - Essien and secret deals to avoid the African Cup of Nations, Essien and his tackling, Robben, Chelsea and their pitch, so-called Chelsea training videos, what happens if Abramovich leaves and so on and so on.....if this is a microcosm of sports interests as a whole its no wonder JM is successfully instilling a seige mentality at Stamford Bridge!
There are so many conspiracy theories surrounding the team that I fully expect to see a picture of JT on the grassy knoll standing next to the 5th gunman!
 
maybe because the pitch is more akin to a beach than a football pitch ;]
not quite sure what that will do against barca, no doubt the skill level of the team extends to beach football, especially the brazilians!
 
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