Hawks’ ‘horrendous’ home pitch problems will now be consigned to the history books

Hawks' pitch cuts up badly during last November's home game with Slough, a match that was eventually abandoned. Photo by Dave Haines/Portsmouth News

The club have suffered down the years, with the fact the ground was built on a former Watercress Farm not helping the water table.

Earlier this season, the home game with Slough in early November was abandoned with Hawks leading 2-0.

The rearranged game was twice postponed due to more rain, while the potentially lucrative home game with fellow high-fliers Weymouth on Boxing Day was also called off.

‘We can guarantee no games will be rained off now,’ said director Trevor Brock.

‘In the past we’ve had horrendous problems.

‘The problem has never been the rain on a matchday, it’s the rain that has fallen in the previous few weeks and raised the water table.

‘We’ve spent tens of thousands and sometimes multiples of tens of thousands on pitch repairs.

‘We lost the Weymouth game to bad weather on Boxing Day. Think of the income we lost that day - we’d have been looking at a crowd of a couple of thousand, if not more.’

Hawks boss Paul Doswell is adamant the Westleigh Park surface cost his side valuable promotion points in 2019/20.

The club had the worst home record of any team who finished in the top seven, winning only eight games out of 17 and losing five (compared to losing none away).

‘I felt sorry for the groundsman,’ said Doswell. ‘He got the pitch looking marvellous for three months then from October through to March all he heard was me slagging it off.

‘That must have hurt the chairman (Derek Pope) as he wanted the best grass pitch he could have.

‘I genuinely feel the pitch contributed to our home record. It affected the players’ confidence - a 10-yard pass would hit a divot and go astray.

‘There were a few times (goalkeeper) Ross Worner went to kick the ball from a back pass and it hit a divot and went over his foot - he was made to look stupid.

‘We played Dulwich at home and (visiting striker) Danny Mills was clean through. As he went to shoot the ball hit a divot and he shinned it. Bairdy (assistant manager Ian Baird) said to me ‘thank **** for our pitch!’

‘You won’t see that happen any more. Players won’t have any excuses.’