Rochdale splash out £500,000 on new pitch as they prepare for FA Cup showdown with Tottenham
Chairman Chris Dunphy insists the work completed is not being done to provide a welcome mat for the arrivals of Spurs
Sponsored by
MAURICIO POCHETTINO will be pleased to see our exclusive picture of the new pitch currently being laid at Spotland.
But Rochdale chairman Chris Dunphy insists the work that was completed last night is NOT being done to provide a welcome mat for Tottenham.
Dunphy gave the green light for the new £500,000 surface last Saturday after waterlogged conditions KO’d their league fixture.
Pochettino, whose side face Dale in the fifth round of the FA Cup — warned the surface would put his players “at risk”. To get it playable for the previous 1-0 cup victory over Millwall, volunteers bored 2,000 holes into the soggy surface then tonnes of sand were spread.
Now Dunphy said: “We’re 100 per cent confident that the pitch will be in superb condition by Sunday.”
Most of the profits made in Dale’s cup run will be swallowed up but Dunphy makes it clear the new pitch is about survival.
He added: “If we are to make up ground on the teams above us we have to have the best playing surface possible.
“Anyone who watched our manager Keith Hill’s side will know that we are a football playing team.
“The pitch before we started re-laying it was as potentially damaging to us as any visiting opposition.
“In fact this is the second time we have had to relay it in a year.
PLANE SAILING PSG unveil stunning plane with stars on side as Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid prepare to face Neymar and Co
most read in football
“We are looking at the long term, not the Spurs game — no matter how glamourous that might be.
“Staying in League One is still our No 1 priority.
“There are plenty of other clubs in the North West who have had similar trouble.
“There is a reason for that — the rainfall has been of biblical proportions!”