Brazilian

My guess is he is referring to the league rules below from: http://spfl.co.uk/docs/067_324__therulesofthespfl_1375800603.pdf

*Bump* Sowing the seeds of success: A Motherwell groundsman's vision for Scottish football Motherwell FC groundsman Paul Matthew at Fir Park, Motherwell..... (Photo by Kirsty Anderson/Herald & Times) - KA. 1 day ago / Scott Mullen, Group Sports Writer IT’S first thing on Monday morning and Paul Matthew is already hard at work. In fairness, he has been ever since he first walked through the front door at Fir Park little over a year ago. Standing in the shadow of the stadium’s giant South Stand, Matthew consults with a colleague about the day’s work as several pieces of heavy machinery snarl, grunt and crank into action. A short walk later and the Motherwell groundsman dashes around the vast expanse of bare ground in front of us before we walk down the stadium’s tunnel and into the comfort of a function suite before eventually settling at a table, all the time talking about the journey he and the Premiership club have travelled together during a radical 12 months. Before we go any further, it is worth putting into perspective the task Matthew had when he first took over as head groundsman at the end of last season. Punch the words ‘Motherwell’ and ‘pitch’ into Google and you are guaranteed to get a wide variety of responses spat back at you. The results may contain images and stories about pitch invasions, most notably the flood of people that rushed on to the park last May as Motherwell beat Rangers to secure their safety in the Scottish top flight. But this return is only a drop in the ocean compared to array of pictures of sodden surfaces, rutted turf, mud patches and reports of abandoned matches. For years the infamous pitch between Fir Park’s stands was synonymous with postponements, causing embarrassment and more importantly financial loss to a club living modestly following a spell in administration in 2002. It is therefore to Matthew’s credit that he has, quite literally, helped Motherwell outgrow this reputation by harvesting one of the best playing surfaces in the country. During an in-depth conversation underneath the Phil O’Donnell stand, he explains just how it has been achieved, and how he hopes to plant the metaphorical seed for Scottish football to follow suit. “The Motherwell job came up and I knew the hereditary problems involved,” he told HeraldSport with the gentle hum of a tractor purring away in the background. “A couple of people said to me that I could help, so it was a bit last minute from me. I was lucky enough to get the job and we started from there. “We are now on to the second renovation being done and it’s a process. It’s a difficult pitch and nobody really understands how difficult. Geographically it’s the second highest pitch in the country, something like 86 metres above sea level. We are extremely high up and get hit with all the weather patterns, particularly rain. What you want is a football pitch that drains and we didn’t have that, so in the last two renovations the club have supported me in my bid to get the stigma away from our surface. “We are trying to make Motherwell Football Club as the model for the rest of the teams in our league that don’t have the massive finance. I’m not a money man, I’m just a guy that sees what we do as a club and I look at my counterparts and wonder why they can’t.” Starting out as a greenkeeper at Windyhill Golf Club in Bearsden, Matthew went on to serve 10 years at Rangers looking after Murray Park and then Ibrox, before English club Wolverhampton Wanderers took him south. It was this time in England that has highlighted just where we are going wrong in Scotland. The main word that kept coming up for Matthew was that of respect. It is something he believes is badly lacking as groundsmen up and down the country are left exposed as they attempt to protect their beloved pitches. From slack protection rules to dismissive and abusive opposition staff, Matthew insists improvement must be needed. “It’s about respect. That’s the first thing. Why are the rules not governed and enforced by the SPFL delegate? He or she should be down pitch side. There is a certain amount of teams in our league that seem hell-bent on dismissing you as an individual for what you are trying to do, and I’m talking about dismissing you in an appalling manner. “I’m out there preparing that surface for their guys to play on. I don’t expect to get the abuse that I receive when I ask an individual to stick to a certain rule. I’m left hung out to dry out there. I need the delegate with me to enforce the rules and take that away from me. “The rules are loosely termed and they need tightened up. We are being filled with excuses game after game. “Down south it was seamless, the players were regimented. But that comes from the coaching staff. The players are just told what to do. “If we don’t protect our pitches, our football becomes a backwater. Players don’t want to come up and play on a poor pitch. When I first was at Rangers Dick Advocaat made David Murray build Murray Park because he knew they couldn’t attract the best players without it.” For Matthew, the respect must start at the very top, starting with our National Stadium. In recent months Hampden has come under criticism due to its patchy surface and it’s emergency returfs ahead of the League Cup final and the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals. “The surface is wrong,” said the Motherwell groundsman, alluding to the fact it is a full grass pitch and not hybrid like the turf at Murrayfield. “It’s short-termism and that’s what is killing our game. How can Murrayfield do it and that’s a minority sport? Football is our national game but our national stadium pitch is not up to scratch. It should be the focal point and kick-on point for all our other clubs, but it’s not. “It’s not ideal [bring in turf in winter] because it may not be what you need or want, but it’s all that’s available. The last-minute decision only comes from a pitch that wasn’t fit for purpose to play that amount of games on. “If it’s not a hybrid pitch with reinforcements in it, it’s not acceptable. Hampden gets a lot of natural light but I know and feel sorry for Stevie their head groundsman. He is a really conscientious guy with a great background but no matter how good a groundsman you are, if you don’t put the stepping stones in place you are beaten in our country.” Matthew is hopeful Motherwell, who now use high-tech TLS lighting rigs to help their pitch, can help inspire other clubs on a similar budget for the greater good. “At Motherwell, we are on a bit of a journey here. We want people to look at our pitch and say ‘That used to be one of the worst, now it’s one of the best. How have they done that?’ “We have to raise the profile of groundsmen in this country, and that will have a lovely knock on effect. Clubs may start to take surfaces more serious, and our governing bodies may start to try and get rid of the stigma attached. “That may filter through to the clubs, the players, the physios, the coaches. Until that point, we’re struggling. Really struggling.”

Calm down, I have no faith in what patg prices will be And please stop with the dramatics, ps les is in an agreement his payback terms agreed the club is a £4million business that has incorrectly budgeted for a number of years , made worse by significant unforeseen factors As such it's restructuring, It has already made moves to try and increase income from existing sources, eg the topic I was hoping you would do yourself the courtesy of checking what gate prices actually are, to help you think through your fanciful solution I'm not sure the £2 reduction your proposal brings over the last few years pricing, meets your business plans agenda, but go ahead and shout about it

Delusional to even suggest an increase. what pricing do think that visitng fans should pay for normal or premium matches? remembering that 2/3 PATG motherwell fans need to pay that also

So just the normal pricing practice thats been in place for like 20 or more years then?

We have no grounds for legal action if we want to continue playing association football

donation made by les on behalf of the youth cup winning team, as i read it

Pearo make sit 0-1 never in doubt we'd start strong not so delighted to see Gomis starting

Update: siebsbarmyarmy and DennyC were randomly drawn as this years raffle winners DennyC wins Wes Fletchers 2015-16 Motherwell top Siebsbarmyarmy wins Louis Moults 15-16 top as it happens neither can make the sponsors event which has been re-arranged to this Thursday in the centenary suite , so both opted to allow other contributors to represent them. I've approached a few contributors that were drawn in reserve (as this has happened before) yabbas turd has confirmed he'll be able to represent for one of the sponsored tops, I'm just waiting confirmation on the other EDIT: and Big Wispy Flossy is attending for the other. as always thanks to everyone who was able to contribute to the joint sponsorship, that put £570 into the club

Dunno! But important to point out that's the most expensive/least value scenario for the east stand which you have listed. One adult only used for snr squad match entry Other scenarios include additional kids ticket which I think is now up to age16 a whole host of discounts Your right to your choice of seat location and ability to reserve that for other events (sounds grand! ) I'm sure there are more links which give some value but guess like most I don't use most of them other than the kids ticket which I always opt in on, for a niece or nephew even if they only join me for a game or two it's still value and its introducing kids to live football, and when I cannot make a game, I have an adult and child ticket to offer out to someone that can, usually friends or colleagues who wouldn't normally go to a game Nb. offering ticket out might not be strictly permitted, but I now know 4 family's that pay in at least 5 or 6 games a season, based on giving them freebies over the years, get the kids interested they'll then persuade parent to take them now and again, ironically most of them would go more often if it wasn't near £30 to walk up Ps I don't agree with the rise, but operating costs do go up I'm more astounded that anyone in our club let alone the general manager thought it was acceptable or even sensible to use rangers return as part justification for the rise, as Motherwell fans getting 'more' premium matches. For avoidance of doubt I pay to watch Motherwell FC vs the opposition . In league matches I see no premium event or occasion all 12 clubs are there on merit and some opposition should not be getting promoted as 'better to watch' than others

Jeez, you seen a lot in that! I only noticed Campbell was listed ;-)

SPFL agree with steelmenonline they have it listed as Saturday 7th at 3pm

be good to get a decent crowd Club have reduced the price of a family ticket to the same as an adult ticket for this match so for one normal adult PATG price, two kids can be taken in also http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2016/04/21/family-ticket-bring-two-kids-for-free/

Or it could be that the Club are able to host them after one or more of the broadcast partners has shown the paid for package? noticed no live comms covereage of the match yesterday either, technical problem or Aberdeen being twisted?

Cheers for putting that up, Always good to read about Kirks exploits, he's handled the cult cup hero status perfectly

where you getting this, we're better off than projected from? Surely we were targetting top six and at least couple of games in each cup? maybe that means we have almost just about matched that, but also had to incur some additional costs of releasing a manager,staff and players - Feels like worse crowds than the norm - although some sources say we've got higher gates?

League cups games start on Saturday July 16th - we are nearly there

It was 100% a one year adjustment of the league payments for league position everyone seems to be overlooking the complete restructure of Scottish football that followed with the dissolution of the SPL and Scottish League, leading to the formation of the Scottish Professional football League Gladly no one is forgetting that Aberdeen are right at the pinnacle of all that is wrong with Scottish Football, hanging onto the coattails of the Glasgow mobs the voting structure is now much more complex - with 12 Ordinary A shares and 30 Ordinary B shareholders. For major restructuring , the collaborators :spit: still retained 11-1 for significant votes, but those working for change managed to get some rules sections changed to 9-3 and the Ordinary B sections are at 75%

Does it really have a positive impact financially? The league placing money will be pretty much consumed by bonus payouts going on recent seasons where success was gained It's then down to what can be generated from 2 or 3 matches We've had Celtic and Aberdeen twice Who we likely to get to boost income?

the last team which reached 44 points but did not qualify for the top six were Motherwell in 2006 with 44points & -5 goals...........

Be interested to see how this pans out, from afar, for 92minutes, it seemed that this would be very much a 'no one deserves it' poll

there will be a lot of love for Louis Moult and deservedly so, but Ripley made a couple of amazing stops to keep us in the game and then another few to see us out, also impressed with his focus today after a feeling he was to easily distracted. so big Connor gets my vote

Today's good deed

I'll choose not to, agree to differ, like everyone with opinions they can be different, I accept that. and my personal opinion probably isn't that different on most of the society performance to date from your own, going by the brief chats we've had, its failed over and over to deliver, except it would now seem on the core goal...... the difference as i see it is, some people are choosing not to fill in the gaps with the worst case scenario, I do not know the reality on much of the detail, so choose to seek the answers which are there to see and allow for discussion on what is not on the back of that I'm not going to let that worst case scenario propagate on this forum, or any other, it does the club or society no good, a club we are all meant to be supporting not battering. the society was the only option after Boyles long time in charge, Les was the only viable option in the opinion of the Club and the Society board in the last 12-18months Les has decided he needs to move on, the reasons are not public, a memorandum of understanding has been signed to transfer ownership of his shares to the Society for £1 Details have still to be finalised, but it has been mentioned that capital has been provided to assist during the transfer period and loan payments to be deferred. but as this is a 'Well society thread, lets keep it to that, the Society is on the brink of achieving it's core goal what do people think the Society should have done, when Les or his people approached them to offer the club for £1? say, no thanks, thats exactly why the society was formed but we feel it would be best to reject this offer A mythical alternative is not on the table, maybe if the deal goes through the society could trade some of the stock for cash whilst retaining the majority holding, I'd buy some, maybe they have received significant contributions to date? there are plenty of challenges, as always, but come on, lets give some support to help make it work, I stopped contributing after my initial membership was paid, I dont believe due process was followed on too many occasions, as a compromise I signed up my nephew to help with the membership target, Tonight I've signed up for regular contributions, the Society are likley to own the club, that was the aim, the Society require funds to function, thats what thousands of us agreed to, so I'l back that up now that the situation requires it ( and im in position to do so , as should be given, no one should be over stretching for any payments) I'm actually more frustrated with the club on reflection than the society, the professional errors have been more damaging to date.