The Ref Stop

Field conditions - dry weather

J

JD1

New Member
In sustained dry/hot weather the conditions of the playing surface are no different to that of a frozen field in terms of safety , e.g rock hard

Yet I dont think I've ever heard of a game being postponed due to an overly dry and unsafe field

Is there an expectation that we are more lenient to such conditions, just because its dry?
 
The Ref Stop
JD1 said:
In sustained dry/hot weather the conditions of the playing surface are no different to that of a frozen field in terms of safety , e.g rock hard

Yet I dont think I've ever heard of a game being postponed due to an overly dry and unsafe field

Is there an expectation that we are more lenient to such conditions, just because its dry?
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The main difference is the nature of the playing surface. Frozen = slippery and therefore dangerous.
 
ChasObserverRefDeveloper said:
The main difference is the nature of the playing surface. Frozen = slippery and therefore dangerous.
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Ok but with the opposite conditions.and extremity to slippery being no bounce or give in the ground, you could easily tweak a joint after jumping or twisting

Its interesting and something to think about
 
JD1 said:
Ok but with the opposite conditions.and extremity to slippery being no bounce or give in the ground, you could easily tweak a joint after jumping or twisting

Its interesting and something to think about
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A 3G pitch is also solid but you’d still play on it. A frozen pitch is much more dangerous than a dry pitch.
 
JD1 said:
Ok but with the opposite conditions.and extremity to slippery being no bounce or give in the ground, you could easily tweak a joint after jumping or twisting

Its interesting and something to think about
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As you could on a standard pavement. That is consistently hard in every season.

Yet more injuries occur from slips and falls when icy than in the dry. It’s about the lack of traction rather than how hard the surface is.
 
Tealeaf said:
As you could on a standard pavement. That is consistently hard in every season.

Yet more injuries occur from slips and falls when icy than in the dry. It’s about the lack of traction rather than how hard the surface is.
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Though if the soil is mostly clay based then in very dry/hot weather it is often the case that cracks appear and they can be fairly wide & quite deep, so that certainly would be a consideration to be thought about as it could result in a broken leg/ankle etc
 
Anecdotal: Recently done a tournament during the height of the heatwave over in NA. The conditions were honestly appalling: middle of the day, open field, hard dirt, no shade for anyone, and I'd been running back to back matches for a few days already—so have the players.

For one of the last matches of the day which I was the center, I had three separate head "collision" incidents between players. Pretty much all of them constituted regular mutual collisions exacerbated by both players "rebounding" their heads off the hard ground as they fell (and the collisions themselves probably being a result of heat dizziness). After the third incident in the last minute, I waived stoppage and just called the match as a goalless draw—9 head injuries and no goals, a soccer classic.

Long winded way to say that absolutely, basic logic and the rules of common sense dictate an overly "hard" ground can definitely constitute a safety hazard, but good luck being considered for future games if you need to incident report a cancellation because the pitch was too tough. Maybe extra long hydration breaks and a word to the captains beforehand would suffice for this specific field condition/hazard, because some hazards can't be avoided.
 
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bester said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2077095562071978133
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Crewe will be very unpopular with Prescott Cables for such a late postponement & perhaps lacks a bit of professionalism for not sending someone to the ground during the morning or the day before etc (only 50 mins away) if they thought there may be issues. It was the dryness/hardness of the ground that they apparently didn’t like & didn’t want to risk potential injury to their players.
 
JD1 said:
In sustained dry/hot weather the conditions of the playing surface are no different to that of a frozen field in terms of safety , e.g rock hard

Yet I dont think I've ever heard of a game being postponed due to an overly dry and unsafe field

Is there an expectation that we are more lenient to such conditions, just because its dry?
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Yes, it's mad
I've seen considerably more injuries on the minority of games played on rock hard summer ground (both as a player and referee) than all other games put together. The ground we have at the moment is incomparable in terms of safety to modern artificial surfaces. Frozen ground doesn't merit discussion as we just don't play on that
It's likely to become more of an issue with long, hot, dry summers becoming more common. Something will have to give, as we generally postpone games on wet ground too easily. Most likely, artificial pitches will become the norm and grass football will phase out unfortunately

We're already playing summer games in the UK when the temperatures and humidity are beyond what is deemed safe (28 degrees wet bulb)
 
Genuinely surprised we haven't seen more called-off this July. Bone dry pitches, absolutely rock hard with no give, and over 80°F.

Sure thing Jan, stopping for 2 minutes of lucozade every 25 mins will solve it.
 
Rightly so. Unless pitches have an immaculate covering of grass, or belong to clubs who can water frequently (notwithstanding the hosepipe bans), the games should be called off as the ground is otherwise unplayable
Always makes me scratch my head when the rain is confused with safety
Except in extreme conditions, waterlogged pitches raise the different consideration of 'farce'
Unfortunately, the English game on grass is on borrowed time as most of the country can't accommodate a football season on account of the climate
 
Big Cat said:
Rightly so. Unless pitches have an immaculate covering of grass, or belong to clubs who can water frequently (notwithstanding the hosepipe bans), the games should be called off as the ground is otherwise unplayable
Always makes me scratch my head when the rain is confused with safety
Except in extreme conditions, waterlogged pitches raise the different consideration of 'farce'
Unfortunately, the English game on grass is on borrowed time as most of the country can't accommodate a football season on account of the climate
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That is possible, though as a country we can be smarter & governments should be tougher on water companies. The government/water companies could invest in desalination plants and clubs could apply to the PL foundation for grants for sprinkler systems and even have their own water tanks (which some clubs already have though few and far between. There are clubs already at Step 4/5 (& some at 5/6) that already have sprinkler systems in place both for grass and 3G pitches. Severn Trent have not had a hosepipe ban in place for 35 years or more and those places that do, may allow business/clubs still to use. As to the hardness of grounds, I don’t think grounds need to have an immaculate covering of (green) grass, but a decent amount would be good. Even in the PL, despite their pitches looking immaculate and watered immediately prior to the game as well as at half time, because of the make up of the surface, they are still said to be very hard. Every ground is different and it is no surprise that council pitches suffer from both dry and wet weather. However, for many clubs in the pyramid from Step 6 upwards, there can be grounds within a mile or so of each other when one may be fit for play (despite being very dry) & one may not, depending on how it has been maintained (or not) and whether it has ruts etc etc
 
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DavidObs said:
That is possible, though as a country we can be smarter & governments should be tougher on water companies. The government/water companies could invest in desalination plants and clubs could apply to the PL foundation for grants for sprinkler systems and even have their own water tanks (which some clubs already have though few and far between. There are clubs already at Step 4/5 (& some at 5/6) that already have sprinkler systems in place both for grass and 3G pitches. Severn Trent have not had a hosepipe ban in place for 35 years or more and those places that do, may allow business/clubs still to use. As to the hardness of grounds, I don’t think grounds need to have an immaculate covering of (green) grass, but a decent amount would be good. Even in the PL, despite their pitches looking immaculate and watered immediately prior to the game as well as at half time, because of the make up of the surface, they are still said to be very hard. Every ground is different and it is no surprise that council pitches suffer from both dry and wet weather. However, for many clubs in the pyramid from Step 6 upwards, there can be grounds within a mile or so of each other when one may be fit for play (despite being very dry) & one may not, depending on how it has been maintained (or not) and whether it has ruts etc etc
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I was up the local Heath last night ( there's a nice pub there, you see ;) )
I do a bit of goal keeper coaching with my son and we're both bruised and scratched to bits this morning :blackeye:
Anyway, as the FA ditched the Aug fitness tests, I have to wait until Sep 20th as I've carried an injury over the summer. Can't say I'm too fussed about missing games in this weather though. The games tend to be hot, dusty, scruffy affairs

On another subject
I was sitting band A, A after two observations in my Primary Southern Counties League. The FA have switched me to the Spartan League on which I have no statss. My good start to this annual marking campaign is no more! I know the FA don't have a proper process in place for amalgamating Primary/Secondary merit tables, it sounded very crude and amateurish when I queried them on it. Bah, I ain't that bovered really. Off to Sicily in a few days on me Hols and enjoying the rest whilst waiting for the rainy season to come!
 
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