Wairarapa United Central League football coach Phil Keinzley has had an "absolute gutsful" of battling the Masterton District Council to provide suitable ground and changing room facilities for his side at their Pugh Sports Bowl headquarters.
So frustrated is he, in fact, that he will be standing down from the coaching
role at the end of this season, as well as relinquishing the chairmanship of the Wairarapa United club.
Indeed this coming Sunday's Central League fixture against Petone at Hullena Park will be his very last home game as coach of a Wairarapa United team.
Which is a major shift in direction for a man who has coached Wairarapa United teams for the past 15 years, including their premier men's and women's sides and various age group combinations.
Never one to quit without first putting up a decent fight, Keinzley admits to having finally reached the end of his tether over his dealings with the Masterton District Council.
"I'm sick and tired of bashing my head against a brick wall, they just don't seem to want to know," he said.
Only three of the home games allocated to the Wairarapa United Central League side this season have been played at the
Pugh Sports Bowl because of problems with the ground conditions there.
Keinzley said those problems began through remedial work to the playing surface being started too late and the council then being seemingly unwilling to maintain it to a reasonable standard.
"It's now seven weeks since we have played there and nothing seems to have been done at all over that time to improve the state of the pitch," he said.
"It's a disgrace but no one seems to care, you keep asking questions but they all fall on deaf ears."
Keinzley said the importance of suitable ground conditions
had been highlighted since Wairarapa United earned promotion to the central league with the quality of play at that level meaning even surfaces were a major priority.
"You don't see the top racehorses running around
on a donkey track but that's
pretty much what they're asking us to do at the Sports Bowl," he said.
"And the changing rooms aren't any better, they're embarrassing too!"
Fortunately for Wairarapa United the Sports Bowl hassles haven't led to them having to give away home advantage for any of this season's central league games with others being transferred to Queen Elizabeth Park Oval or Hullena Park
However, neither of those venues are available to them
on a regular basis which leaves the Sports Bowl as basically the only possibility as their home ground.
"It could be ideal and the cost of the work required to bring it up scratch isn't huge, especially when you compare it to what is being handed out to other sports," Keinzley said.
"It's damn annoying but what can we do?"
Also concerning Keinzley is the effect work being done on the probable installation of an all-weather athletics track at the Sports Bowl could have on the football field.
"It would mean a lot of heavy traffic going over parts of the pitch and you wonder how long it would take for any damage there to be sorted out."
Keinzley said it was not for him to say what the future held for the Wairarapa United club with the local football fraternity having a big part to play in that decision.
"Obviously it would be a huge shame for football here
if Wairarapa United was
not around but without a decent home base it's certainly very difficult for them to operate," he said.
"My decision to quit is personal though, it's not a club thing at all."
As to his own future Keinzley admits having been asked by clubs outside Wairarapa if he would be interested in taking up a coaching appointment with them but he will "very definitely" not be doing so.
"Honestly I couldn't do it. Wairarapa United have been good to me and that's where the loyalty still lies," he said.
