Surfers’ pitch saga
SURFERS Paradise president Telly Karadimos fears players and coaches will walk away from the club unless Gold Coast City Council can repair a Lex Bell Oval surface labelled “a mess”.
The state of the Council maintained Lex Bell pitch came under heavy criticism following Surfers’ 1-0 Premier League win over Palm Beach on Saturday, with Apollo’s own coach, Alex Morrison, describing the surface as “the biggest decider in the game”.
While Burleigh coach Colin Phelan joked he thought he was “in Syria” after watching the Round 14 fixture, Karadimos doesn’t see the funny side.
Part of a public park, the field is devoid of grass in some parts, boggy in others, sandy and uneven, with Surfers’ game against Coomera on July 13 moved to Southport because it was deemed unplayable.
Karadimos said the field was mowed by Council every three to four weeks and watered twice a week, but moves to limit training time on the surface were offset by constant public use.
The Bulletin understands Football Gold Coast officials recently sent a letter to Council to convey their disappointment at the state of Lex Bell Oval, with a Council spokesperson confirming they were “aware of concerns raised by this club (Surfers).”
“The fields at this precinct will receive a full renovation in September as per the annual maintenance schedule,” the spokesperson said.
However, Karadimos said the situation called for a full returf and the erection of a fence around the field, proposals Council had so far rejected.
“They’ve said to me ‘let’s have a walk on it in November and see what we can do’. By then, it’s too late,” he said.
“We know they can’t do anything about it now because the grass isn’t growing but they need to returf it. They want us to pay to use their fields but they’re not maintaining it.
“If we don’t get this ground fixed we are going to lose players and coaches. Players will not want to play on our pitch.”
Broadbeach president Mickey Doyle, whose club falls under the same Council service district as Surfers, said the Dolphins also had problems with their publiclyavailable field but conceded there wasn’t “a heck of a lot (Council) can do at this time of year”.