Pitch condition

[Slippin cider]

31 minutes ago, Bourne End Red said:

They aren’t going away.

As I said ….shame …

[Offside]

32 minutes ago, Slippin cider said:

As I said ….shame …

The pitch was in a worse state than I’ve seen at AG in a long time…….but all things considered (the amount of rain recently and rugby the night before) it held up well. 

[Lanterne Rouge]

7 minutes ago, Offside said:

The pitch was in a worse state than I’ve seen at AG in a long time…….but all things considered (the amount of rain recently and rugby the night before) it held up well. 

Nine days without a game on it now and the weather forecast is for warm and sunny so hopefully by the time we play Boro it will be looking better.

[Davefevs]

I know there’s little we can do about the fixtures, but Friday night to Saturday afternoon is very little prep time for the groundstaff. Not even 24 hours.  They do a very good job most of the time this short turnaround happens.  But the amount of rain has impacted them this time around.

 

[Daniro]

Well I admire those of you who are more forgiving, but I really resent the rugger boogers mashing up our pitch the evening before we have a game.   I know it's Lansdown's property but some of us have been watching football on that hallowed stretch of land for many many decades and it's painful to see footballers struggling on a surface cut to shreds by knuckle headed egg chasers.   

[Northern Red]

2 hours ago, One Team said:

Completely agree, ridiculous having a rugby game the night before our game. 

Ideally they should have their own ground and this would never be an issue, but that’s not going to happen any time soon.

Which does raise an interesting point; if we ever do become an established Premier League club, would we continue to have Bristol Bears play at Ashton Gate? 

Brentford and London Irish share.

The rugby hasn't been an issue until this season, which suggests that it's as much about the lifespan of the pitch as anything else.

[Davefevs]

27 minutes ago, Daniro said:

Well I admire those of you who are more forgiving, but I really resent the rugger boogers mashing up our pitch the evening before we have a game.   I know it's Lansdown's property but some of us have been watching football on that hallowed stretch of land for many many decades and it's painful to see footballers struggling on a surface cut to shreds by knuckle headed egg chasers.   

I’m not forgiving, despite my comments above.  As you know I look at the financial aspect in quite a lot of detail, and I’m not convinced we are using the AG Ltd / BC Holdings set up, and the Bristol Sport servicing model to the best advantage.

Therefore I share some of you resentment.

Nige (et all on the football side) have done their bit on reducing football costs, I’d like to see the rest of the “group” follow suit, coupled with raising income too.

[mightyreds89]

4 hours ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

Nine days without a game on it now and the weather forecast is for warm and sunny so hopefully by the time we play Boro it will be looking better.

I agree a break will do it good but having looked at the u21’s their next 3 fixtures are at Ashton Gate including this Tuesday! And 2 more before 25th April….. madness, surely they will change that. 

[Offside]

4 hours ago, Offside said:

The pitch was in a worse state than I’ve seen at AG in a long time…….but all things considered (the amount of rain recently and rugby the night before) it held up well. 

Not sure why I quoted Slippin cider in my post, completely unintentional

[RedM]

8 hours ago, mightyreds89 said:

I agree a break will do it good but having looked at the u21’s their next 3 fixtures are at Ashton Gate including this Tuesday! And 2 more before 25th April….. madness, surely they will change that. 

I would hope so, but the under 21's have to play a certain amount of games at their home club a season. Not sure how many or how many they can still play at the HPC to be compliant with the rules.

I was surprised how badly the pitch did cut up on Saturday, and how quickly. It really didn't seem too bad at all straight after the rugby. 

[Lanterne Rouge]

15 hours ago, mightyreds89 said:

I agree a break will do it good but having looked at the u21’s their next 3 fixtures are at Ashton Gate including this Tuesday! And 2 more before 25th April….. madness, surely they will change that. 

I never even looked at the U21s! I checked the rugby and the ladies before I posted but not them!

[Lrrr]

9 hours ago, RedM said:

I would hope so, but the under 21's have to play a certain amount of games at their home club a season. Not sure how many or how many they can still play at the HPC to be compliant with the rules.

I was surprised how badly the pitch did cut up on Saturday, and how quickly. It really didn't seem too bad at all straight after the rugby. 

You need to play 5 at your own stadium, in theory they could have moved tomorrows game to the HPC and played the game against Coventry after the season has finished at AG, however for all we know they've already booked in post-season pitch work for as soon as the rugby is done with their last game. 

They've only played 2 there so far so 3 of the last 4 need to be at Ashton Gate

Edited April 3, 2023 by Lrrr

[The Bard]

20 hours ago, Daniro said:

Well I admire those of you who are more forgiving, but I really resent the rugger boogers mashing up our pitch the evening before we have a game.   I know it's Lansdown's property but some of us have been watching football on that hallowed stretch of land for many many decades and it's painful to see footballers struggling on a surface cut to shreds by knuckle headed egg chasers.   

It's been painful watching just football on the pitch for most of the previous 45 years I've been watching.  You'll get over it.

[The Bard]

20 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I’m not forgiving, despite my comments above.  As you know I look at the financial aspect in quite a lot of detail, and I’m not convinced we are using the AG Ltd / BC Holdings set up, and the Bristol Sport servicing model to the best advantage.

Therefore I share some of you resentment.

Nige (et all on the football side) have done their bit on reducing football costs, I’d like to see the rest of the “group” follow suit, coupled with raising income too.

Just suppose you are a billionaire resident in a Channel Island and have a number of assets on mainland England, with businesses linked to them.  If you could, wouldn't it make sense to structure the companies you own in such a way that the headline companies based in the UK run at a loss but the company registered in the Channel Islands are profitable and subject to tax there.  Thought so.

I simply don't believe that Bristol Bears entity runs at a loss as it has officially since they moved to Ashton Gate.  Wages are capped meaning that costs are controlled. I would be amazed if playing and coaching costs are much above £10 million.   Ticket prices are high and crowds comparable to us.  A lot more beer is sold at rugby.   There is more than £10 million in revenue to make the team profitable but we won't see this in the accounts.

My daughter works in one of the concessions.  She is employed by Ashton Gate Stadium, whether she is working at football or rugby. Income goes to this company and from there I suspect neither BCFC or Bristol Rugby see a benefit.  I bet Pula does though.

 

[Davefevs]

32 minutes ago, The Bard said:

Just suppose you are a billionaire resident in a Channel Island and have a number of assets on mainland England, with businesses linked to them.  If you could, wouldn't it make sense to structure the companies you own in such a way that the headline companies based in the UK run at a loss but the company registered in the Channel Islands are profitable and subject to tax there.  Thought so.

I simply don't believe that Bristol Bears entity runs at a loss as it has officially since they moved to Ashton Gate.  Wages are capped meaning that costs are controlled. I would be amazed if playing and coaching costs are much above £10 million.   Ticket prices are high and crowds comparable to us.  A lot more beer is sold at rugby.   There is more than £10 million in revenue to make the team profitable but we won't see this in the accounts.

My daughter works in one of the concessions.  She is employed by Ashton Gate Stadium, whether she is working at football or rugby. Income goes to this company and from there I suspect neither BCFC or Bristol Rugby see a benefit.  I bet Pula does though.

 

Agree.

I guess the point I badly made was that the financial model implemented by SL hasn’t given the football team the opportunity to maximise the benefit from it under the constraints of FFP.  Which seems counterproductive really, as I’m sure the sporting element of Pula isn’t making any money at all.  Wouldn’t you dump as much “football costs” as possible into Bristol Sport Ltd (or Bristol Bears Ltd), rather than maintain Bristol City Holdings Ltd tight to FFP limits?

[Sleepy1968]

20 hours ago, mightyreds89 said:

I agree a break will do it good but having looked at the u21’s their next 3 fixtures are at Ashton Gate including this Tuesday! And 2 more before 25th April….. madness, surely they will change that. 

Thanks for mentioning this - I've picked up a ticket. My apologies to the pitch!

[Street red]

Not sure if it's been mentioned did the pitch get any attention in the summer? I can't recall it being relayed or was it because of shorter summer break.

[Ivorguy]

35 minutes ago, Street red said:

Not sure if it's been mentioned did the pitch get any attention in the summer? I can't recall it being relayed or was it because of shorter summer break.

 It’s the revenge of the Somerset sheep, imo. Never the same since they stopped coming to the pitch in the summer. Oh, those good old days - sheep, Sally Army Band, and holes in the roof of The Old Stand.

[Red-Robbo]

On 02/04/2023 at 19:41, Northern Red said:

Brentford and London Irish share.

The rugby hasn't been an issue until this season, which suggests that it's as much about the lifespan of the pitch as anything else.

 

14 hours ago, Street red said:

Not sure if it's been mentioned did the pitch get any attention in the summer? I can't recall it being relayed or was it because of shorter summer break.

 

Theoretically, these Desso Grassmaster pitches have a 15-year lifespan. It was laid in 2014, meaning it should only be 2/3 of the way through its lifespan.

I think rugby played during a particularly wet spell - in a well-above average damp March - caused recent problems.

With drier weather it shouldn't deteriorate further and they'll do extensive repairs over summer, I imagine. 

[phantom]

Obviously the cash will be useful, but the powers that be are definitely trying to get every bit use out of this pitch 

[Hxj]

On 03/04/2023 at 16:40, The Bard said:

I simply don't believe that Bristol Bears entity runs at a loss as it has officially since they moved to Ashton Gate.  Wages are capped meaning that costs are controlled. I would be amazed if playing and coaching costs are much above £10 million.   Ticket prices are high and crowds comparable to us.  A lot more beer is sold at rugby.   There is more than £10 million in revenue to make the team profitable but we won't see this in the accounts.

The rugby club runs at a loss.  The income is split into three main parts, all around £4 to £5 million in the last accounts, being ticket sales, income from the league and commercial income.

The rugby club also paid Ashton Gate Limited £540,000 in rent, which is income for FFP purposes in Bristol City Holdings Limited.

On 03/04/2023 at 16:40, The Bard said:

My daughter works in one of the concessions.  She is employed by Ashton Gate Stadium, whether she is working at football or rugby. Income goes to this company and from there I suspect neither BCFC or Bristol Rugby see a benefit.

The 'beer income' will be reflected in the Ashton Gate Ltd accounts, any profits count as income for FFP purposes in Bristol City Holdings Limited.

On 03/04/2023 at 16:40, The Bard said:

I bet Pula does though.

The Pula Sport Limited/Pula Limited group in Guernsey is funding the football club in the region of £18-£20 million a year in cash, and £3-4 million goes into the rugby club.  Given the loss position of the UK entities it makes no commercial or tax sense to have huge unrelieved losses in the UK and profits in Guernsey.  It just increases the cash requirement of the UK entities, which has to be funded from Guernsey,   

[View from the Dolman]

On 06/04/2023 at 16:00, phantom said:

Obviously the cash will be useful, but the powers that be are definitely trying to get every bit use out of this pitch 

Following this weekend's results, there will now not be a fixture at Ashton Gate. 

[redkev]

Didn’t go to Stoke personally but watching it on my dodgy fire stick  robins tv I thought Stokes pitch looked far better than ours 

[phantom]

14 minutes ago, redkev said:

Didn’t go to Stoke personally but watching it on my dodgy fire stick  robins tv I thought Stokes pitch looked far better than ours 

Easy when you compare the usage of each pitch 

[TBW]

12 hours ago, Davefevs said:

AG - “Primary home” guessing some games will be elsewhere

Ashton Gate being their primary home pitch is a terrible plan. We've seen how much the pitch is suffering as it is. It doesn't need more! 

[luke_bristol]

33 minutes ago, TBW said:

Ashton Gate being their primary home pitch is a terrible plan. We've seen how much the pitch is suffering as it is. It doesn't need more! 

There’s a brand new pitch going in over the summer, will be an upgrade from Desso (which already holds up pretty well for an old pitch that gets hammered by the rugby)

[Curr Avon]

11 minutes ago, luke_bristol said:

There’s a brand new pitch going in over the summer, will be an upgrade from Desso (which already holds up pretty well for an old pitch that gets hammered by the rugby)

Is it Desso Connor?

[RedRock]

1 hour ago, luke_bristol said:

There’s a brand new pitch going in over the summer, will be an upgrade from Desso (which already holds up pretty well for an old pitch that gets hammered by the rugby)

Interesting what is going to be produced. It really is going to take a hammering through the Season at 3/4 games a week, and if we want to play our ‘on the floor/passing game’ it could hinder us.

[Davefevs]

11 minutes ago, RedRock said:

Interesting what is going to be produced. It really is going to take a hammering through the Season at 3/4 games a week, and if we want to play our ‘on the floor/passing game’ it could hinder us.

Guessing it’s more like 3/4 every other week really?

City 23 + any home cup games

Bears 17 this season

Vixens 11 plus any others

 

[Bristol Rob]