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" The Brandywell pitch isn't suitable for Professional Sports" .. Ruidhri Higgins.

https://www.derryjournal.com/sport/foot ... 1729541499

" While our home form has improved this year ......"


But at least I agree with him about the pitch.

Rip it up.

Thanks for that. For a while, it felt like the club weren't saying anything about the pitch as though they couldn't be seen to criticise the council.

Perhaps something has changed. I wonder will some of the extra 750k UEFA money be put towards a pitch?

We’re talking about it here regularly.

Only this week I said Dundalk’s pitch was a disgrace and plastic needed to be banned from elite football.

There’s a reason Sligo, Rovers, Pats get the glamour friendlies because any serious team wouldn’t allow their players to play on that plastic surface.

Aside from that let’s not use it as an excuse for this season. Our record is similar regardless of the surface.

marcoloco wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 11:11 pm We’re talking about it here regularly.

Only this week I said Dundalk’s pitch was a disgrace and plastic needed to be banned from elite football.

There’s a reason Sligo, Rovers, Pats get the glamour friendlies because any serious team wouldn’t allow their players to play on that plastic surface.

Aside from that let’s not use it as an excuse for this season. Our record is similar regardless of the surface.

The pitch isn't the reason we don't get 'glamour friendlies'. It's because our capacity is just too low to make it pay out.

What glamourous opponents have Pats hosted recently btw?

rodgers wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 10:55 pm Thanks for that. For a while, it felt like the club weren't saying anything about the pitch as though they couldn't be seen to criticise the council.

Perhaps something has changed. I wonder will some of the extra 750k UEFA money be put towards a pitch?

What 750k uefa money? I missed that.

I hate plastic pitches, and want it gone, but Sligo played some excellent football on it last week. And I have seen other teams play good football on it too.
But I just think the product would be much better on grass.

700 rather than 750 sorry.

https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/l ... 14187.html

stevebradley wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 11:53 pm

marcoloco wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 11:11 pm We’re talking about it here regularly.

Only this week I said Dundalk’s pitch was a disgrace and plastic needed to be banned from elite football.

There’s a reason Sligo, Rovers, Pats get the glamour friendlies because any serious team wouldn’t allow their players to play on that plastic surface.

Aside from that let’s not use it as an excuse for this season. Our record is similar regardless of the surface.

The pitch isn't the reason we don't get 'glamour friendlies'. It's because our capacity is just too low to make it pay out.

What glamourous opponents have Pats hosted recently btw?

Didn't they play Chelsea in a pre-season friendly?

I don't think there is much appetite for these so called glamour friendlies any more, as they tend not to be glamorous at all.

Derry were burnt in the past by Real Madrid and Celtic sending over basically youth teams to play. Iirc, wasn't there one final glamour tie which had a poor turnout? Might have been Celtic?

The days of seeing the full first team in pre season friendlies is gone, there is no point chasing them as I don't think they would ever pay for themselves and make a profit for us. The big teams now are only interested in matches in Saudi, Australia or the US.

Keyser Soze wrote: ↑Tue Oct 22, 2024 11:07 am I don't think there is much appetite for these so called glamour friendlies any more, as they tend not to be glamorous at all.

Derry were burnt in the past by Real Madrid and Celtic sending over basically youth teams to play. Iirc, wasn't there one final glamour tie which had a poor turnout? Might have been Celtic?

The days of seeing the full first team in pre season friendlies is gone, there is no point chasing them as I don't think they would ever pay for themselves and make a profit for us. The big teams now are only interested in matches in Saudi, Australia or the US.

A glamour friendly raises the profile, generates a bit of interest from fans outside the normal hard core support, the media actually show an interest, and if clubs can build relationships there are possibilities for player transfers and loans. As for the days for sending the A-teams - yes, these days are gone. But there's enough decent teams about that would mix things up for us fans that have to follow a 10 team league. Sure they same goes for the players who relish the chance to play a bigger team from another league.

As for Real Madrid, the biggest club in the world, they could send their under 11s over if they want. They fact they came over at all and played a competitive fixture was amazing and unlikely to ever happen again.

Keyser Soze wrote: ↑Tue Oct 22, 2024 11:07 am. Iirc, wasn't there one final glamour tie which had a poor turnout? Might have been Celtic?

We cancelled a friendly against Celtic in 2009 after they named the squad to play us and Cliftonville. It was the youth team essentially. Is that what you are thinking about?

The last glamour friendly we had in this country was Real Madrid v Rovers in 2009. They brought a full team with Ronaldo, Guti, Raul, etc. Ever since then, including friendlies organised for Lansdowne by the FAI has featured half a team, if you are lucky. When Barcelona last played there I think Suarez was the only high profile, newsworthy player to feature. Leeds used to come over all the time and Stoke has been in Cork the last two years but EPL sides go where they are paid to go and Irish clubs just don't have the stadium capacity to host elite level teams.