Manny Muscat of the Wellington Phoenix competes for the ball with Oliver Bozanic of the Melbourne Victory during the round nine A-League match. Photo / Getty Images.
Manny Muscat of the Wellington Phoenix competes for the ball with Oliver Bozanic of the Melbourne Victory during the round nine A-League match. Photo / Getty Images.
The 'disgraceful' A-League playing surface at North Harbour Stadium on Saturday night was a result of two months of 'cooler than expected' temperatures which affected the grass growth, according to director of Auckland Stadiums Paul Nisbet.
Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat slammed the pitch after the league leaders lost theirfirst match in six weeks to the Wellington Phoenix, saying no teams could find rhythm due to the potholes, mud patches and sand.
But Nisbet said the playing surface was 'safe', and despite looking bad, had been inspected and approved by the FFA on Thursday.
Auckland Stadiums schedule an annual maintenance program across all their grounds in October but Nisbet said the remedial work had not gone as planned.
"Unfortunately what transpired through the cooler than normal temperatures was that the grass didn't come through as much as we anticipated. And what we've ended up with is a number of dead patches on the surface," Nisbet said.
"We are now going to sit down and have some very in depth conversations with our ground staff, understanding and reviewing the processes that went into that renovation and we will have a plan with them to get on top of the situation. But our ground staff are internationally recognized. We can only go on the advice they give us."
Victory previously had a 78 per cent successful pass rate this season, but went at 68.9 on Saturday. Wellington had a pass success rate of 73.5 per cent before the game, but went at a staggeringly low 52.3 per cent in Auckland.
"It is an absolute disgrace that pitch passes the standards that we've supposedly got for an elite football game," Muscat said.
"We've had the unfortunate pleasure of playing on a few cricket pitches, but apart from the cricket pitch the rest of the surface is ok. The last time I checked grass is a pretty vital ingredient for a football game, and there was none there today," Muscat said.
The next football game to be played at QBE Stadium is on Sunday January 17 when Waitakere United host the Wellington Phoenix.
