Working Party........

[wednesburystokie]

Stand and take a bow, apart from the ref having a moan and a couple of Stafford Officials getting involved the game passed off without much issue.

The last few weeks haven't been an ideal situation, and hopefully lessons have been learned from above (not God)

But every man and lady, and those somewhere in between, must realise that without your graft then tonight wouldn't have happened.

Been a good bit of banter too along the way, and now we know that John C doesn't mind getting his hands dirty in pursuit of nuts.

Thanks everyone

[RobYeltz]

The point you make is valid Dave, and credit to each and every supporter who has given their time and effort to help Ant in getting the pitch playable. The fact of the matter is without the supporters that game wouldn't have happened tonight. A lot of questions need to be asked and a lot things need to change to ensure the same doesn't happen again.

My own humble opinion is the stadium is too much for any one person to manage and relying on the goodwill of supporters should not happen, particularly around holiday season time and the start of the season. The support and goodwill of supporters should be seen as a bonus not a necessity. I've spent more time at the ground than most and what happened this year should never happen again. I'm not being melodramatic, or disrespectful to supporters who've given their time but it needs someone to be responsible for the pitch who has the time, effort, knowledge, leadership, materials, equipment and skills to do the job properly. We've all worked hard for the club and done the best we could under the circumstances we've but had we had more direction then the pitch I'm sure would have been better

[beastyyeltz]

John C doesn't seem to bother to get those nuts if they fell down a hole I'm guessing there are people who don't understand this!

[beastyyeltz]

On a serious note it has been enjoyable to help out and see the stadium coming along. We haven't had great numbers but we've certainly done a lot. Although it isn't enough, we do need professional hands. And AVFC your time hasn't been wasted we've got the stadium pretty much ready for the season. Its not the best but its bloody good for a few volunteers who probably don't have much an idea of gardening. We've done all we could. Well done to you Rob and every other volunteer that has helped along the way. Those who have helped have done a great job. You should honestly all be proud of yourselves

[JohnC]

Just to get the nuts out in the open.

In short when fitting the nets I dropped one nut and it fell straight down the hole with the goalpost in. No chance of getting it out.
We looked around maintenance place and could not find one.

Monday my vast array of nuts from home none fitted.
In the maintenance place I found a large plastic bag with allsorts thrown in. Using the T-Spoon found in the bag I found several nuts none suitable. Eventually sifting all the way to the bottom and the last chance I found one!

I realised that during the first working party this was the first time in 10 years I had stood on the Halesowen Pitch (Had Bath after play off final and Belper when we won league last year).
After walking up and down with wheel barrows I now have respect how our players actually keep going for 90 minutes.

The club needs to ensure that the correct working equipment and materials are available and that as soon as the close season starts the pitch needs TLC. It should ensure it has the correct level of manpower to look after the pitch, nets and line marking. This is after all the most important part of the stadium.

The extra help provided by the few should have been spent on the extra's painting the boards, cutting the grass on the banks, cutting the weeds and plants back from Directors path and disabled path, painting dressing rooms and a general pre-season tidy up etc etc.

Rob and Ant in particular and everyone else who has put time in should be proud too of what we have achieved so far in the last few weeks.

Well done ALL.