Chelsea - Sowing Those First Seeds?

It`s July 1st, Carlo Ancelotti steps into his new role today and even though the new football season draws ever nearer it still seems an eternity away.

I don`t know whether it`s the 'heatwave` we`re having or possibly because Wimbledon continues to rumble on and attracts its colossal share of media attention.

Whatever it is could be open to debate but in these barren times, whereby even the Confederations Cup and European U21 Championships have been completed, comfort can still be sought watching football from times gone by.

I`ve previously mentioned the series I`m fast becoming hooked on - Classic Big Match - and its contents continue to reel me in hook line and sinker, in fact it`s re-awakened my love for the game as it used to be and I`ve now started tuning into other programmes broadcasting such coverage.

I find myself looking for obscure angles, artefact`s that bring back fond memories and players who might have slipped my mind but continue to astound me with their ability.

However, the last broadcast I saw has given me the perfect opportunity to offer comment on something that many might not consider to be a wholly important attribute when it comes to staging a game of football - the pitch!

In the last few months I`ve seen clips of Chelsea playing Leeds United on a Wembley surface ruined by the 'Horse of the Year` show, I`ve seen Derby County playing on their old Baseball Ground where there wasn`t a single blade of grass and I`ve caught glimpses of games being played whereby a layer of snow has covered the outfield.

But what really kick-started this article was an interview with the one of the ground staff, at Stamford Bridge, on Chelsea TV last night.

He was eloquently explaining how the pitch, from last year, had been ripped up, the ground seeded and a new lush surface nurtured. He had no qualms about it not being ready for the opening home game and he also explained how it could even be ready a week earlier if the need arose.

We were treated to an insight into when it`d get its first cut, nurturing its texture with mechanical machinery and the introduction of artificial light to promote growth once the evenings start to draw in and certain bits of the ground become trapped in shade.

It all seemed a far cry from the days when Charlton Athletic emerged to be greeted by something that resembled a beach! So overwhelmed by the site of it all it took the South London club three days to launch an appeal after they`d been beaten.

Indeed, I can still remember, not too long ago, when it was replaced at short-notice after complaints about its state from the playing staff. The home game played immediately after it had been re-laid was played on a surface that resembled a patch work quilt of sods of turf.

Going further back in time, you`ll all recall the goal areas becoming bare, the centre circle disappearing under a sea of mud and the grass what was left receding by the day, it was simply how football was played, all that talent forced to play on mud flats, it just didn`t make sense.

Down at Stamford Bridge the pitch problems, through the years, have been the constant cause of concern. Mutterings about the poor drainage, so close to the Thames, were often prevalent and I can recall money being spent by the barrow load to cure it but still we went through two or three pitches a season as the surface deteriorated rapidly. But not no more!

The pitch last season was almost as good at the season closure as it had been when Portsmouth arrived on that glorious day in August and the ground staff are supremely confident that the new seeded pitch will be every bit as good. It`s great to see that football is now providing, almost everywhere in the top flight, surfaces that befit the talents that so much money is lavished on. Is it not?

For the very latest Premier League odds

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.