Yeovil Town's problems with their various pitches are continuing, with manager Gary Johnson questioning why a local school is able to offer facilities that are superior to a professional Football League side. The Glovers have been forced to return to Sherborne School once again, despite the first team now having taken over the usage of the main Community Trust pitch at Alvington. In addition, the club have had to move their opening home pre-season friendly against Plymouth Argyle to Conference South club Dorchester Town's Avenue Stadium
All the signs are that the current situation is to continue, and in this week's Western Gazette, Johnson seems more than a little bit disgruntled that the situation has developed. The Glovers boss expresses gratitude to Sherborne School for stepping in again, but tells the paper that he wants to understand why the Alvington pitches were not fit for purpose:
"I am very disappointed with the state of our training ground at Alvington. We have not been able to get anywhere near it and will not be able to get anywhere near it for a while. To be honest it is a very poor piece of ground at this moment in time and the club should have an enquiry to see why that is.
"It has been unbelievable at Sherborne and we have been out there in all weathers with the ground prepared properly for us. It is important that we thank the school and their ground staff because without it we would have been in the manure."
The club had only taken over the rights to the main pitch from Westland Sports this summer, amidst a row between the two clubs after the club declared that the two Top Pitches at Huish Park were "no longer fit for purpose", combined with their wish to build a Food Store on that land.
Johnson has also expressed his disappointment that the main Huish Park pitch is not going to be ready in time for the first team fixture against the Pilgrims, at a time when the likes of Sherborne School and Dorchester Town have been able to provide suitable pitches. He feels the club need to understand why that is the case:
"The season finished early and we cannot get a pre-season friendly on our pitch, of course I am disappointed. That was a good game against Plymouth and the club needs to have a look at it and see why that (Huish Park pitch) has not become available."
The club's first team pre-season friendlies against Bristol Rovers, Stoke City and Exeter City will continue to be scheduled at Huish Park, with the Rovers fixture due to take place one week after the Plymouth Argyle fixture at the Avenue Stadium. However, with the summer pitch preparation having fallen behind the planned schedule, this isn't good for the 2012-13 season, particularly given how wet the summer has been so far.
Comment on this News Item on Facebook
or Go back to Top of Page
|
12 July 2012 : 
