THE surface of the Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG) continues to cause headaches for grounds-men, politicians, players and coaches even as the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) Premier Division has got under way.

Rowan Isaac, coach of Asot’s Arcade Parham and former national player, is concerned about the surface and wonders how the ground staff will ever get it back to the days when the pitch was sublime.

According to reports, the decline of the ARG was brought about by the 2017 Carnival celebrations.

“The eastern end is definitely heavy so a lot of the teams defending that end would get stagnant. I was listening to the discussion and I would not want Batow’s (Everton Gonsalves) job right now because that field is in no good condition because I see a ball was passed to one of our players in a straight line and then the ball just shift,” said Isaac.
Derrick Edwards, coach of Sandals Grenades is also in agreement regarding the pitch, saying the ground staff may not have enough to work with.

“First, you must have the material to get the job done because if you don’t have the material it makes no sense, and that’s the first aspect. The second aspect is to have time to do the job because if you don’t have the time to do the job then you won’t get a proper job,” he said.

“Looking at the surface with the sand, I think it should have gotten some more time to get the grass to grow into those areas and it is going to take a lot of water and so on. And at the moment, I don’t know if they are watering it every day in the evenings because it’s better to water it in the evenings,” the former striker said.