Wellington's worst grounds

Nairnville #2

It's gotta be Eastbourne , it's like a flammin goat track!, its right next to a beach so sand gets in your eyes sometimes haha, and children playin in the playground behind the goal can get "bothersome" lol

Was breathing gear required to get to the top of the Hill. Which half at Delaney has the  " Hill " It has been in great nick over the last 3 seasons.

Wakefield is pretty bad especially in a northerly and you end up in Island Bay chasing the ball.
Miramar wasn't good, half the pitch was firm and the other half was a bog
Redwood is either a bog or (after 3 or 4 days without rain) like concrete and rough and the prevailing wind blows across the pitch (used to be the other way - bloody softballers ).
Raroa is just sh*te - always.
Any pitch that has an artificial cricket wicket in the middle

Best pitches - Endeavour, Kura St (even though it's been widened so is bl**dy huge, don't expect any far post corners) and Newtown (although I don't like having the running track there) and I seem to remember Wellington College being not too bad (I just hated chasing little f*ckers half my age, cocky little sh*ts)

Happy Valley 1 followed by Happy Valley2  I should think.

Always wondered what happens when the ball ball goes over the fence at Melrose park ?its a brave man that climbs into the zoo at night  to retrieve a  football , that Lion is a big bastard!!
Mind you i suppose its a good way for the coach to get rid of players.

<COACH>"Bob you really struggled last saturday against that wee left back  at Petone so i may have to drop you this week ,oh and by the way could you just nip over that fence and get that ball back,cheers!!"
Kiwi Jambo2007-09-11 17:18:12

happy valley,minging.the cricket pitch was so dusty that day i contemplated picking up the ball and seeing if there was any turn.

Agreed with Dave57, WC pitches are horrible, either boggy or hard, but if you enjoy slipping over then that would be my recomendation. Not forgetting Alexandria park up above WC, bounce like a motha f**ker

I know your a lion lover paul crawford is awsome because thats where ill be taken my second 5 aside championship boy.plus the best park is newtown by far coz when u score u got the monkeys that cheer 4 you

Happy Valley is very poor but I cant believe that no one had mentioned Benburn Park

hey whats wrong with naenae haha everyone always has a dig at us! what grade team are you referring to??

i think miramars fairly crap after a good pour down

Must be the masters side, of course few of us got near enough to any opposition players this year to do anything dirty, but Meh...

Well your just a dirty man fullstop, particularly after I saw you with your shirt off at Glory!

Strip when we're winning, we only strip when we're winning...

Not a risk with the mighty Nighthawks this season.
Hard News2007-10-11 20:11:34

Sign me for the Nighthawks! Haha

Played a game up by the hill in Christchurch, boy it was muddy! Deep mud too, a couple of us nearly drowned. And another field I played on for school had a metal thing that you turn, no idea what for, but it was just in the middle of the field. You could skin yourself up on that.loyalgunner2007-10-20 14:43:34

I've played on some bad one's but Happy Valley would be up there

One everyone seems to have missed the dreaded Alexandra Park. Near the top of Mt Vic it is covered in stones the field is an actual square and has terrible wind.

Bump

I knew it when I saw this topic. We've covered just about every single pitch in Wellington.

Not sure how the council get away with it. I just think there would be a long-term saving (seems obvious) by investing in a couple of good artificial grounds now, where football could run year round, day and night, without the maintenance required of many of the grounds (if that's what they are). They actually resemble the surface of a strange and distant planet by the end of the season.

I'm only reiterating my views previously expressed in the 'Artifical Pitches' thread, so I don't want to sound like a broken record.

lets start a campaign.

Problem is the council seem unable to plan anything and take it through to completion. Seems to be all hot air. I wouldn't rely on them to get it done.

They'll get one, then they'll put it some obscure location where noone can get to without having to catch 3 buses or drive 30 km.

yea, or somewhere like happy valley, and they will lay the artificial turf without levelling the ground first, so it's more like a ski slope.

Or completely re-haul Karori Park again for it.

At the risk of sounding like a council toss pot- WCC have work hard for football in the past year and have supported the nix since day one  with the supply of training facilities(maybe at the expense of certain lower grade teams)- theres more to the making of a bad ground than a negligent local body.

the sheer demand on grounds ion the wgtn region (Football, rugby, softball, league, dog walkies etc) makes it a heck of a job.

if you want more info i may have to wait til the beer's worn off, but i don't go in for council bashing when i've seen both sides of the story.............

wow, I really was expecting to be slammed about that half drunk post last night-
In a more sober rational mood what i really wanted to stress was that although it may seem as though the parks and gardens staff are uncaring beaurecrats, i know them personally and know what a good job they do of balancing the city's demands on  our sports fields- add to this the council's support of WPFC in its first year, a lot of it unseen by your average forumer, and it just sticks in my craw (What the hell does that mean anyway) when they are criticised like that.

By the way the worst ground really is wherever you lose while a southerly whips your backside- in that case for me its Fraser Park (Bloody LHCFC!)

I don't doubt their efforts at all. But the points you made there (demand for sports fields, volume of patrons, professional teams using pitches) back up the claim for artificial playing surfaces. Much heartache could be saved if funds were available for what I believe is a truly worthwhile investment.

Can't wait for Culture Kicks!

Thanks DKP22

yes, artificial pitches will no doubt be the future, imagine the yuoung african boys of Newtown Park and Arlington learnign football on quality pitches right outside there complexes- time will come when this investment is seen as a priority.

However a good old fashioned mud bath is something every young footballer should experience!

I'm not council bashing actually. It's just that it seems like a good long term solution, that will take pressure off the council to maintain so many grounds for both winter and summer sports. Make some grounds specialist cricket pitches, with no winter sports, and make others specialist winter sport grounds. A good way to do that would be by the initial capital outlay used to set up a good structure for artificial pitches. Play year-round football all week (evening games each night too)with quality floodlights, and the money from subs paid comes streaming in.

I'm a keeper, artificial pitches sound painful!

The solution is better drainage. Unfortunately that is expensive.

Be like an eighties keeper and wear thick tracksuit pants!

i think the solution is better drainage AND artificial pitches

PAO_ i wasn't singling you out for council bashing- i just ask for perspective- the council has done alot in a short time for footie in this city, and it would be good to recognise that.

.................................................(Rant ends)

DKP222008-01-20 13:55:52

yeah actually astro turf has come along way since QPR in the eighties, and the poor quality at our local indoor venues (have'nt seen the new Hutt one but)
it is more grass like than ever- but the cost is prohibitive

agreed. its around $5 million for installation and has to be replaced between 5 and 10 years.