I've read some moans on here, this is one of the worst.

Oddly enough, yes there is. It's busier at 5:30/6:00 than it is during the week. I don't know why, it just is. Shame, I will end up going but I KNOW it will put a lot of people off.

who is moaning? besides you moaning about the moaning you seem to have imagined me doing? i simply asked a question.

So we should hold it somewhere away from the M62 then?
Hmmm well that leaves Quins & Catalans. Not too sure that's such a better idea.

the usual scenario is lack of investment in the turfcare side of things - probably bad drainage or existing drainage requiring renewal.Looks like it needs a good dose of lime for a start - do me some soil analysis and I will tell you exactly what needs to be done.....

yours respectfully,

a greenkeeper/groundsman of many years experience

Yes of course they are the only other places it could have been held. It's the time and the day more than the venue for me. I like Headingly, just not on a Friday night. It once took me four hours!

They are the only other places that don't require most RL fans to travel on the M62 which you seemed opposed to. Yet then strangely suggested Huddersfield would have been a far better choice.
If your objections to Headingley were as nick hkr described then I could understand and might even agree. But to suggest the game shouldn't be played at a ground off the M62 and then suggest another ground off the M62 as a better choice is very strange.

Standing and seating I love however the North Stand is not a great stand.

Yeah a good capacity but nothing Wigan/Hull could not rival.

What does it matter who owns it?

Corporate facilities? You think the KC or DW or even the Keepmoat do not have them to an equal standard?

Groundsman that lost to the HKR one a couple of years back? The pitch looked awful on sky a couple of weeks back compared to Halliwell Jones the pitch is a poor standard and can tell it has Union and League played on it.

HD Screen...well as the game is on Sky I don't suppose it would matter if it was played at the Skolars ground!

City with the largest support base? I'm sorry when did Leeds Rhinos and Hunslet combined get crowds of over 20k most weeks?

The other points are fair game and as my OP stated I do not mind the game being played there I just find it an odd choice when there are better grounds with equal facilities available to the RFL. The M62 is pretty busy but I got to Widnes the other week in around 2hrs on a Friday afternoon and the opposite direction did not look too bad either. It is a poor excuse not to go to a game and for me only finances will stop me going so hopefully fuel won't rise too much more and I can fill my car with paying customers!

Not alot of people from Hull would travel to Wigan on a Friday night, and vice versa.

Bradford, Castleford, Wakefield and Huddersfield fans are within 20 miles, everybody else are within 70 (except Crusaders and Harlequins).

The longer term issues with the field at Headingley are well know and documented (surprised you don't know if you are the expert?) and it is not due to lack of investment. It is a drainage issue but the problem can only be solved with a full deep renewal and re-laying of the pitch.... which will happen in August and it will be the first major re-laying of the pitch for over 80 years.

The severe problems with the pitch at the start of last season are also well documented and it was just having to keep the pitch covered for, I think, all but a couple of days in December and January that was the issue. It was also the countries worst winter in decades and the pitch remained very poor but playable throughout! The new modern part synthetic pitch and subsoils will of course be able to stand much lower temperatures than the current fully grass and soil pitch and that is why the more modern dual use stadiums in RL did not suffer as badly.

Also Headingley will have a new South Stand early in 2012 and a new North Stand is targeted for 2015. The re-building of the Western Terrace of course has planning, logistics and construction issues that will make it the last thing to be re-developed.

[:ydyppm4w

Sorry IA I am not au fait with the soil structure & related agronomy at Headingley ! why should I be ? I heve been (until recently) looking after 200 acres of golf course in sw france - News of the Headingley pitch hasn't filtered down this part of the world ,yet...BTW a relatively cheap drainage system could be installed without having to disrupt the playing area too much.This would consequently require regular local aeration operations to be carried out which any groundsman would be doing anyway,if the machinery/funding was available to him or her.


:ydyppm4w
The weather in most of scotland (to pick just one area) is far worse than Leeds I would imagine and their big sporting venues aren't that badly affected.A properly maintained sports field,assuming the basic rules have been adopted from the start shouldn't have to mean surfaces being re-laid every few years.
It doesn't matter what your subsoils are - if the drainage is insufficient you will always have a problem - again,these problems may well be 'well documented' along the M62,but not in the middle of rural france - apologies for that.



that's usually the case,the actual playing surface of any sports venue is the last place where money is invested,unless there is the intelligence in the boardroom to see otherwise - the policy seems to be,if it looks green,it must be ok...

You say that you are not familiar with the Headingley pitch issues because you are in southern France, fine no problems with that... so why comment in the first place and not only that, offer your undoubted expert opinion on why the pitch has problems without knowing the full facts?

Do you know what the underlying longer term issue with the Headingley pitch is and why only a full deep re-laying of the pitch will solve the problems?

I think accusing Leeds of underinvestment and lack of professional care of the playing surface could not be further from the truth!

Well said Mr Armadillo. The groundsmen and pitches get a good amount of funding from Uncle Gary.
Laying a new 3G pitch at Kirkstall as well, which sounds good although I have no idea what a 3G pitch is. Do I get a better mobile signal while stood on it or something?

Headingly is not an International Stadium.

If they wanted a 17k capacity the Doncaster should have been the choice.
Good for motorway access,
Designated parking,
Fully Covered Ground.
Uninterupted views of the pitch,
Good corporate facilities,
Good facilities for normal priced seating.

Doncaster win every time over Headingly, the place is an absolute dump with the worst game day experience in Super League for travelling fans.

Now come on ted , you know the rules on here , no criticism of the leeds rhino's stadium is permitted , it is all shiney and new , the ' Emporer ' said so

with great respect,it doesn't matter which playing surface it is - as you intimate it's difficult to know what's happening underneath the surface at Headingley without knowing the basics hence me saying that soil analysis would be a help to give some kind of instant diagnosis
It's a bit like a human,youdont need to open up a body to tell there are problems,a doctor can tell lots from the persons appearance as well as,and especially blood tests.It's the same thing for turfgrass whether it be a golf green or fairway etc which is my specialty or rl or footy pitch etc.
Looking at the pitch on the tv tells me immediately there is a problem - the problem might be simply rectified ie if it's a clay based soil,add lime etc etc then carry out regular aeration etc.
Is there already a drainage system in place ? if not then it doesn't have to cost a fortune to install one - if,as you say the turf hasn't been replaced for 80 years then maybe there isn't an existing drainage system if there is already a system then it may just need re-opening with the drill system if it's clogged or a complete new system is required.
Re-laying turf shouldn't be necesary if the basics are already in place - a newly laid turf at Headingley will soon become in bad condition again if the drainage/aeration problems aren't sorted.Look at Wembley,Old Trafford etc who sem to re-lay every couple of years.This would/should not be necessary with a proper drainage system in place.
It's not rocket science - just turf science ...

The man to ask is your head groundsman - he'll tell you what's required.

Oh dear. What a shame that Starbug has to make himself look silly. Look back through the thread, Leeds fans have happily accepted criticism of the stadium, they have also put forward the benefits of it. By all means hold the game at Doncaster if you want a crowd of about 6,000. If you want a bigger crowd hold it in a stronger RL area that can also attract more corporate attendances by using the links of a big club.

The options for this game were few really.
Halliwell Jones - great stadium, might be a bit small, a long way for Yorkshire fans to go.

Widnes - certainly a possibility, would have helped boost Widnes' club for next season.

DW - a natural choice for any RL game, is a pain to get through Wigan on a Friday night

Huddersfield - decent stadium, looks good on tv, but doesn't draw on a large RL presence in the town like DW or Headingley or KC.

KC - decent stadium, big RL presence would be a good choice, but is a long way for Lancashire fans.

Headingley - adequate capacity, draws on big RL support, utilises significant corporate ties associated with Headingley, smaller crowds don't look as bad as at all seated stadiums, but isnt up to date.

In my opinion if you want a decent crowd and want it fairly central to try and encourage other clubs fans to go and you want significant corporate attendance then it's a straight choice between Headingley & Wigan. Headingley doesn't have to worry about a Premiership teams fixtures and is more natural if McClennan is coach of the exiles. Wigan looks better and has plenty of parking.

So the fact that Headingley has been chosen is hardly the most disgraceful choice of the century. Of course we could hold it at Leigh and really show the world how strong rugby league is.

Ooooooooooooo , bitchy , bitchy

I agree completely. I cant stand Headingly on a friday night

can you tell me if there is any h/s problems on our ground i dont think they is at least were doing something about it what are you doing the away stand is disgraceful and people call our ground

There aren't any health & safety problems at Headingley, if there were the ground would not be allowed to be used and wouldn't receive a Health & Safety certificate. It has a Health & Safety certificate for each stand for a certain capacity.
In what way is the Western Terrace disgraceful compared to the away end at Hull KR?

They know exactly what the problem is and it can now only be solved with a full deep relaying of the pitch. I just thought you making huge assumptions about why was a little out of order, investment and care have not been the issue!

Do you want to know what has caused the issues, because I will tell you if you are interested but don't want to bore everyone else if not?

I would be interested,from a professional point of view because Headingley seems to suffer from problems i've encountered over the past three decades or so on golf courses and agricultural land etc so please 'pm' me if you wish.

I'll understand if you can't be bothered it doesn't matter and I won't lose any sleep over it though I would love to know what,if any drainage there is already at Headingley.I was last there in february 1999 on business and it looked a bit of a mess then.

Agree