Blackpool FC to investigate drainage issues at Bloomfield Road following Doncaster Rovers postponement

Blackpool will investigate what they can do to solve the drainage issues at Bloomfield Road.
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Referee explains why Blackpool's game against Doncaster Rovers was called off

It comes after the Seasiders suffered a fourth postponement in just five weeks last night when their game against Doncaster Rovers was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

The game against Northampton Town in February also fell foul to the rain, while the Burton Albion and Peterborough United fixtures were cancelled due to a frozen pitch.

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Chief executive Ben Mansford says a combination of long-term drainage problems and heavier than expected rainfall led to last night’s postponement.

“I do want to acknowledge and apologise for the disappointment of the fans,” he told The Gazette.

“We were all delighted with the performance at Portsmouth and everybody, Simon Sadler included, was looking forward to the game, so we were really disappointed it didn’t happen.

“We all knew it was going to rain, however the percentage chance and the intensity of the rainfall was not predicted.

Blackpool's game against Doncaster Rovers was called off last night due to a waterlogged pitchBlackpool's game against Doncaster Rovers was called off last night due to a waterlogged pitch
Blackpool's game against Doncaster Rovers was called off last night due to a waterlogged pitch
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“The weather was a factor, but the drainage is a huge issue. We will explore what can be done in the immediacy to get the water level down, which is very high at the minute.”

Following recent tests, it’s understood the Bloomfield Road surface drains at a fraction of what a normal, new pitch would drain at.

“The fans can be rest assured, and I think they’ve seen this over the last 18 months of Simon Sadler’s ownership, that if something is not right we will try and correct it,” Mansford added.

“We have to continue our investigations and make sure we lose as little, if any, games as possible in the seasons ahead.

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“As we’ve seen from recent infiltration test results, our pitch really does struggle to move water.

“There’s been a chronic under-investment in the infrastructure of the club under the former owners.

“Simon gave the interim management a lot of scope to invest in the pitch and clearly that was done. It was done last year and it was done this year too.

“It looks a lot better and we’re actually one of the few clubs that did a pitch renovation last summer, which is why the pitch has - in the main - looked very well this season.

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“But because we have very little information about the construction of the pitch and the drainage engineering-wise a lot further down, some work is still required.”

It’s estimated that a renovation of the pitch with undersoil heating and new drainage would cost in the region of £750,000 to £1m.

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