AFC Fylde will use long close-season to solve pitch problem

Manager Jim Bentley watches AFC Fylde in action in February when the club's pitch problems were at their worst

Fylde agree on squad for next season but signings must wait

With no more competitive action until August at the earliest, the Coasters have taken the opportunity to investigate the issue and plan a course of action.

Haythornthwaite concluded that a number of factors were at play in the deterioration of the surface but he is looking forward to being proud of his club’s pitch again.

In his latest video interview for the club’s website, the owner said: “We’ve suffered this year with the pitch.

“We’ve gone from showing off about our pitch to becoming a bit of a laughing stock, where I’ve been ashamed to even go out and look at my own pitch.

“Everybody knows we had the wettest February on record but it exposed some big problems we had with the pitch.

“So over the past few weeks we’ve been able to conduct a proper investigation and that involves digging up pitches and looking at drains.

“What we have found is that there were undoubted flaws in the original installation from the original company.

“We’ve had independent advice. We’ve done the post-mortem and I think everyone is in agreement there was a lot of, shall we say, shoddy work but it’s never as simple as meets the eye.

“We’ve come to a conclusion. We haven’t quite reached a resolution about who is going to pay and I’m sure we’ll reach something that’s fair for both of us.”

Fylde’s problems were particularly evident in their National League fixture against Notts County, which was postponed on two occasions.

The Coasters’ owner is now focusing on the future and wants football to be played the way he enjoys to watch it, with work set to start before the end of the month.

“We had a sub-standard pitch all season but the great thing is that now we’ve found the problem we can fix it,” he added.

“Unfortunately there are costs involved but I think the majority of those costs will be accepted as their responsibility.

“We will be instructing a company to start that renovation.

“Once that’s agreed, hopefully I expect that to start if not next week then the week after, and we can go back to having a wonderful playing surface.

“If you love to play football the way I like to see it played, on the deck, you need a great pitch.

“Fingers crossed we’ll have it all sorted, and when that ball is eventually kicked next season, it hopefully isn’t stopping in a puddle of water like it did in February.”