Breaking News: Club deducted points due to slope on the pitch – Whatever next?

What happens if a team loses points because their football pitch has too much slope?

However, this is what I’ve been reading on the BBC Sport website (see below).

According to the newspaper, “the slope on their New Dundas Park pitch has resulted in a six-point deduction for Scottish League Two club Bonnyrigg Rose.”

After acknowledging the “offence,” the Scottish team is now initiating a crowdsourcing campaign to fix their pitch and make it compliant with the league/level’s criteria.

The precise permitted pitch slope in that league is not specified in the report.

However, when you consider a club that only receives hundreds (about 600) to see their team play, it does sound a little excessive and exaggerated.

We played our home games at the same field that the Sunday morning local pub/club teams in our community used when I was a child attending junior/primary school. In all honesty, the pitch’s slope was so steep that, with even the slightest breeze behind it, it was quite feasible the ball could have rolled all the way down the pitch and into the “bottom” goal without anyone kicking it. Additionally, your five-foot-tall, ten-year-old goalie had the added issue of being knocked down by “not lightweight” adult keepers stomping around if they stood on the line in the middle of the goal. This dropped them down by maybe another foot or so.

But let’s get back to this Scottish club and the regulations of today.

The “bronze level” (see below) pitch slope rule is something I’m not familiar with.

According to the English FA guidelines, however, “The maximum slope allowable shall not exceed an even gradient of vertical to horizontal 1: 41 in any direction,” I discovered online.

This, I believe, is the steepest slope that any club’s pitch, regardless of level, can have. Well, at least in England, professional/semi-professional football.

Since 1: 41 is equivalent to around 2.44%, there can be no more than a 2.44-meter vertical drop for every 100 meters along a pitch.

Therefore, for round figures, the distance between the ends is about 2.5 meters.

The St. James’ Park pitch has a slope, as every Newcastle United supporter is aware of (or ought to be).

I can’t recall the exact date of the work, but it was probably something absurd like five meters, descending from Leazes to Gallowgate, at some point in the more recent decades. Because of the repairs done, I believe it is now “only” about two meters, which is within the FA’s restrictions.

Newcastle United can go “down the slope” in the second half, going down the hill from the Leazes to Gallowgate, as we have all grown accustomed to them kicking from the Gallowgate to the Leazes in the first half (up the slope!).

We have seen away teams force Newcastle to kick into the Gallowgate first half, if winning the toss, more often than not, whether it is because of the slope or something else.

As most (all?) clubs have a preferred style of play at home and like to kick a certain way in the first and second halves, I believe this to be a fairly typical occurrence. If at all possible, the opposition would like to tamper with it.

Report from BBC Sport, November 12, 2024:

Additionally, the Midlothian club has started a fundraising initiative to cover the cost of the resurfacing.

The club acknowledged the rule violation before a disciplinary tribunal held by the Scottish Professional Football League.

In September, the Scottish FA lowered the club’s licence from bronze level, which is the least required by the SPFL, to entry level due to the gradient of their pitch.

Bonnyrigg has been given a six-point deduction, warned about their future behaviour, and is now need to submit information by January 31 regarding finance arrangements and a work schedule that will enable pitch levelling operations the following summer.

Despite dropping four spots from fourth to third bottom, Bonnyrigg is still two points ahead of Clyde and Forfar Athletic.

The club posted an appeal on X, saying, “The Rosey Posey, the lifeblood of our community, needs your help.”

“To ensure compliance with league membership, we are raising money to help level the pitch and improve drainage, etc.”

After winning the Lowland League and placing eighth out of ten teams the previous season, Bonnyrigg was promoted to League 2 in 2022.