Middlesbrough

[DRNaith]

So what do we think, there's been varying reports about the weather over night, will the game be on?

[DN8ROVER]

Hope so..i've had to book a day off work

[Filo]

An update on the state of the pitch and what precautions are in place would be nice. The temperature are forecast to go down to around -5c tonight!

[The Red Baron]

Filo wrote:

An update on the state of the pitch and what precautions are in place would be nice. The temperature are forecast to go down to around -5c tonight!

Couldn't agree more- as an exile it is good to know whether something is being done. And I don't mean via Andy the Groundsman posting on here, although his updates are always welcome!

Although looking at DROS this week, you'd never know that we were playing this side of Christmas.

[Filo]

And it`s now snowing!

[Boyhood dreams]

Filo wrote:

An update on the state of the pitch and what precautions are in place would be nice. The temperature are forecast to go down to around -5c tonight!

If it drops down to minus 5 then the game will be off. In the past, the night before as been minus 3 and its been called off.

[Filo]

just got back in and it`s -1c now

[Andy Thompson]

Hi Folks

The pitch has been covered all week to be honest, since we cleared the snow, finishing off last friday, was left to dry up over the weekend then covered every night this week.

As most are aware the temps over the next 24 hours are around -4 depending where you get your forecast from.

With it being a 7.45 kick off..there are a few Positives along with negatives.

Positives are that we have a full day to prepare the pitch and make any sort of decisions throughout the day and the negatives are that it will obviuolsy start to get cold the later in the day we go.

To recap..the covers are down and have been all week so fingers, toes, knees everything crossed..and will see you all tomorrow  

[Filo]

Andy Thompson wrote:

Hi Folks

The pitch has been covered all week to be honest, since we cleared the snow, finishing off last friday, was left to dry up over the weekend then covered every night this week.

As most are aware the temps over the next 24 hours are around -4 depending where you get your forecast from.

With it being a 7.45 kick off..there are a few Positives along with negatives.

Positives are that we have a full day to prepare the pitch and make any sort of decisions throughout the day and the negatives are that it will obviuolsy start to get cold the later in the day we go.

To recap..the covers are down and have been all week so fingers, toes, knees everything crossed..and will see you all tomorrow  

How late can you leave it before removing the covers, could you leave it untill say 6pm thus protecting the pitch all day, then surely the pitch would n`t freeze solid in 3 and a half hours

[normal rules]

Andy Thompson wrote:

Hi Folks

The pitch has been covered all week to be honest, since we cleared the snow, finishing off last friday, was left to dry up over the weekend then covered every night this week.

As most are aware the temps over the next 24 hours are around -4 depending where you get your forecast from.

With it being a 7.45 kick off..there are a few Positives along with negatives.

Positives are that we have a full day to prepare the pitch and make any sort of decisions throughout the day and the negatives are that it will obviuolsy start to get cold the later in the day we go.

To recap..the covers are down and have been all week so fingers, toes, knees everything crossed..and will see you all tomorrow  

Why oh why could this not be put out on the os at the start of the week?????
There will be traveling rovers who have been waiting for this sort of update so they can make plans to make or not make the trip.

[Andy Thompson]

Filo wrote:

Andy Thompson wrote:

Hi Folks

The pitch has been covered all week to be honest, since we cleared the snow, finishing off last friday, was left to dry up over the weekend then covered every night this week.

As most are aware the temps over the next 24 hours are around -4 depending where you get your forecast from.

With it being a 7.45 kick off..there are a few Positives along with negatives.

Positives are that we have a full day to prepare the pitch and make any sort of decisions throughout the day and the negatives are that it will obviuolsy start to get cold the later in the day we go.

To recap..the covers are down and have been all week so fingers, toes, knees everything crossed..and will see you all tomorrow  

How late can you leave it before removing the covers, could you leave it untill say 6pm thus protecting the pitch all day, then surely the pitch would n`t freeze solid in 3 and a half hours

We have a few options and will look at them in the morning..we have done as you have said above in the past; lifted them first thing, done our work and then re-covered until 5pm ish.

[stockyboy]

Thanks for that Andy.

[RedJ]

What time will we know when it's on/off?

[DonnyBazR0ver]

When the ref says so.

[MiKA]

Andy Thompson wrote:

Hi Folks

The pitch has been covered all week to be honest, since we cleared the snow, finishing off last friday, was left to dry up over the weekend then covered every night this week.

As most are aware the temps over the next 24 hours are around -4 depending where you get your forecast from.

With it being a 7.45 kick off..there are a few Positives along with negatives.

Positives are that we have a full day to prepare the pitch and make any sort of decisions throughout the day and the negatives are that it will obviuolsy start to get cold the later in the day we go.

To recap..the covers are down and have been all week so fingers, toes, knees everything crossed..and will see you all tomorrow  

Andy,

I know that we have no undersoil heating but have the club not considered putting blowers under the covers, other clubs do it, what sort of cost would be involved to aquire them?

[RedJ]

DonnyBazR0ver wrote:

When the ref says so.

When is this likely to be?

[Andy Thompson]

Rigoglioso wrote:

Andy, is there any snow on top of the covers at all and if there is, do you need a hand clearing it? It might be a question best answered in the morning, but if you need any help I can lend a hand from about 1.00pm onwards.

I have just come back from the stadium and there is no snow on the covers and i dont envisage any being on them fingers crossed  

[Andy Thompson]

MiKA wrote:

Andy Thompson wrote:

Hi Folks

The pitch has been covered all week to be honest, since we cleared the snow, finishing off last friday, was left to dry up over the weekend then covered every night this week.

As most are aware the temps over the next 24 hours are around -4 depending where you get your forecast from.

With it being a 7.45 kick off..there are a few Positives along with negatives.

Positives are that we have a full day to prepare the pitch and make any sort of decisions throughout the day and the negatives are that it will obviuolsy start to get cold the later in the day we go.

To recap..the covers are down and have been all week so fingers, toes, knees everything crossed..and will see you all tomorrow  

Andy,

I know that we have no undersoil heating but have the club not considered putting blowers under the covers, other clubs do it, what sort of cost would be involved to aquire them?

Around £10k for 72 hours hours of blowers is the norm but getting blowers in isn't an easy task with only a few companies having them and this time of year they want more money and also they often go to bases locally as transport is their biggest cost.

[bobjimwilly]

Thanks for the updates Andy, much appreciated  

[CusworthRovers]

The school field I have just walked across is like concrete. If the temps stay around or below freezing then it will be good arrows if they get this game on.

The only bright spot is that the sun is up and out.

Ps another who has used a days leave for this, so I would like it to happen from a selfish point of view. If Andy needs any help on the pitch I can also assist, if it's within the kids being at school times. I'll be drifting in and out all day but will check in on here for any updates

[Bikka]

Can you leave the covers on during the game, prevably over the home goals.

[Fanatical Rover]

Pools' Youth Team fixture at Doncaster Rovers, which was due to be played on Saturday 18th December, has now been postponed.

The recent drop in temperatures has caused many problems in recent weeks and Micky Barron's outfit have played just one game so far this month.

The postponement of this fixture means the Youth Team will now not play again until their home game with York City on Saturday 8th January.

Hope this isn't a sign that today's game will be called off

[Alan Southstand]

The only bright spot is that the sun is up and out.

Even that's not a saving grace, Cussie, as a lot of the pitch will be in shadow and therefore will never see the sun. If only part of the pitch is frozen, it will be off.

[donnievic]

with all the injuries we hav i hope it gets called off

[Mark DRFC]

good thing is that it isnt predicted to get above freezing today, so if the damage has been done it wont get better, lets call it off now and hope the squad gets fit before the christmas rush

[Bikka]

It's not our call to make, it's up to the ref and according to DROS he must be happy as game definately on