Dammies pitch needs draining or teams will lose their home, warns county league president
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The president of Caithness Amateur Football Association, Murray Coghill, has expressed fears that two Thurso-based football clubs will be homeless unless Highland Council pulls its finger out to save the Dammies.
Constant waterlogging of the Thurso venue – officially called Sir George's Park – has been an issue for a number of years but in the past nine months it has come to a head as the pitch has been rendered unplayable.
North Caledonian League side Thurso FC have had to play their entire season away from home with the Dammies being waterlogged, while summer teams Thurso Acks and Thurso Pentland could also find themselves looking for a new venue.
It was suspected that some over-zealous gardening had been responsible for the Vikings not being able to use the pitch this season but Mr Coghill says the pitch problems go even further back.
An extension of the Springpark housing scheme in the town has apparently caused a strain on the area's existing drainage, causing excess water to rise to the surface – especially with regard to the Dammies.
Mr Coghill said: "The problems with the drains actually started when the housing scheme in Springpark was extended to include Orkney View and Murkle View and the existing drainage network was expected to cope with the additional water going towards the river.
"This situation came to a head in 2017 when we had some severe flash floods and the football pitch was totally submerged in water. I suspect a lot of sludge and sand and silt came down the drains then and possibly built up in the old pipework to such an extent that the water just doesn’t get to the river now.
"Since 2018 I have been having monthly meetings with the facilities manager at High Life Highland, who manage the sports facilities on behalf of Highland Council, and every month we discuss, among other things, the problems associated with the drains and also the showers not working properly with only two out of eight showers working at any one time.
"High Life Highland’s manager, William Durrand, has been very helpful when there is something that comes under his direct control but most issues have to go via Highland Council, which becomes so frustrating. For example, the solution from Highland Council’s maintenance officer to the problem with the showers was to isolate six of them completely.
"That sounds very practical when we have 32 players all trying to have a shower at the end of a match.
"This is the first season since being formed in 1998 that Thurso FC have not played one home match on the Dammies due to it being waterlogged all winter. The two Thurso clubs – Acks and Pentland – who use the Dammies during the summer are wondering if they will be able to fulfil their home fixtures this season due to this ongoing problem.
"Thurso FC have managed to secure the all-weather facility for their home fixtures while at the same time losing a serious amount of money from match-day revenue through their social club. But the summer teams play in the evenings when the all-weather facility is almost fully booked by Thurso United for coaching the local kids, as they don’t have access to grass pitches in the town.
"The successful conclusion of the 2020 Caithness AFA season is in serious jeopardy as a result of these ongoing issues.
If this problem occurred in Inverness or any of the swimming pools in the Highland region I am sure it would be rectified in the same week.
"The issue with the showers was first raised in May 2018 and there have been various attempts to rectify the problem since, to no avail. If this problem occurred in Inverness or any of the swimming pools in the Highland region I am sure it would be rectified in the same week.
"I find it difficult to comprehend that in a town with a population of eight to nine thousand people there isn’t one decent grass football pitch with good facilities to go with it.
"There is a grass football pitch on the Ormlie estate but it is classed as a recreational area by High Life Highland so is treated differently from the Dammies. Some 10 years ago there used to be five or six grass football pitches – two have been taken over by Caithness Rugby Club, two have been taken over by the all-weather pitch and one used to be on Viewfirth green which went by the wayside when the Viewfirth club closed."
Responding to Mr Coghill's claim that this matter would be sorted by now had the Dammies been in Inverness instead of Thurso, local Highland councillor Struan Mackie agreed.
He said: "I would be a pretty poor Caithness councillor if I didn't agree with what Murray has said.
"However, other areas within Highland Council, such as Inverness, have access to additional means of funding that we in Caithness don't have.
"The Inverness Common Good Fund is one example and there are no similar mechanisms for us to tap in to.
"It is frustrating for all the teams who use the Dammies and it is embarrassing that the pitch is in the state that it's in."
Fellow local councillor Matthew Reiss is hopeful that the matter can be resolved soon but warned that the cost involved could be heavy.
Councillor Reiss said: "We've had concerns regarding the state of a number of pitches in Thurso. The Dammies is an obvious one but the pitches at Thurso High School, Pennyland Primary School and Ormlie Park [home of CAFA sides High Ormlie Hotspurs and Top Joes] are also needing work done.
"We have managed to secure £600 towards Ormlie Park. It is small beer but hopefully it can be of some help.
"The new financial year is about to begin and hopefully we can successfully secure some discretionary funding to go towards work on the Dammies.
"I've already spoken to one contractor and it will take a significant amount of money to do that – a five-figure sum.
"Work on flushing out one of the drains will be carried out soon. I can't make any promises, as funding may well be finite, but with the rest of the work, should all be well in securing discretionary funding, work could start very quickly after that."
