WHAT CORNISH FOOTBALL NEEDS - STEVE MASSEY'S TAKE

[Piran]

Here is a video I put together yesterday. Most of it was filmed at Coach Road, Newton Abbot - the HQ of the Devon FA:

Do you agree with Steve's opinion?

https://youtu.be/eS0ef2QqJUo

[RAPPO]

Got to be honest, I couldn’t agree more with Mass. I was always a football played on grass fan, stuck in my ways and scoffed at 3G a bit, ok for training but not matches, old dinosaur 🦖 opinion. Then having spent about 2/3 times a year going around pitches in Scotland over the last 20 years, league and non league grounds, my opinion has definitely changed. The surfaces today like Mass said are nothing like the old QPR and Luton pitches, they’re fantastic to play on and I reckon Scottish clubs are virtually 50% at least 3G now. They wouldn’t play up there half the time if they weren’t with the weather and to be honest our weather since about the 1st Feb when it’s rained every day has been as bad as up there!! The climate is certainty changing so I think we need to as well! They’re also great for the community, I remember chatting to the chairman at Montrose as he was showing me around Links Park a few years ago and he said there was 9 games on the pitch played over the last weekend! Everything from the u12s to the 1st team was played on that pitch and it was used most days by the local non league clubs for training etc which brings the revenue in to help these clubs as well. Without a doubt the way forward for me, how good would it be to see Cornwall FA have a set up similar to the Devon one 👍⚽️

[Railwayman in Exile]

I'm a grass man, was brought up on, played on it and hopefully one day die on it, but both my sons are 3G and that is the future and has been for a long time. Cornwall is a long way behind other counties in terms of these facilities and I'm with Mass, should be priority No1. So much is good about Cornish football and has improved in recent years but in terms of a centre/HQ it's long overdue. A few 3/4G pitches would certainly have helped this year's fixture congestion.

I also believe for the youth set up, having somewhere 24/7 encourages more youngsters into and to stay in the game which then gives longevity to clubs instead of seeing one or two clubs die every year.

[St Darren]

What’s the average age of the Cornwall FA in comparison to other FA’s.  I’ve no idea, but they’ve always been known to not be very forward thinking in their ideas!  Maybe this is because they’ve come from an era when money was tight and not freely spent. 
 

The county is crying out for a facility that can be used for football festivals, for coaching, for finals.  Getting something like what the Devon FA have would be excellent.  

[bighairydave]

2 hours ago, St Darren said:

What’s the average age of the Cornwall FA in comparison to other FA’s.  I’ve no idea, but they’ve always been known to not be very forward thinking in their ideas!  Maybe this is because they’ve come from an era when money was tight and not freely spent. 
 

The county is crying out for a facility that can be used for football festivals, for coaching, for finals.  Getting something like what the Devon FA have would be excellent.  

The age? As I am sure @Steve Carpenter can confirm the facility will happen, but finding a space big enough for what is needed isn’t easy.

 

Speaking with some of the staff at recent events, it’s something they really want as well so they aren’t the ones slowing it down.

[Steve Carpenter]

2 hours ago, St Darren said:

What’s the average age of the Cornwall FA in comparison to other FA’s.  I’ve no idea, but they’ve always been known to not be very forward thinking in their ideas!  Maybe this is because they’ve come from an era when money was tight and not freely spent. 

The county is crying out for a facility that can be used for football festivals, for coaching, for finals.  Getting something like what the Devon FA have would be excellent.  

A quick check on Companies House will give you the average age of the board Darren but to save you the time it's around 55.  The staff I would guess mid to late 30's (sorry if I'm wildly out team) not that that's a factor as they're an extremely capably bunch and that's much more important.

Nobody's going to dispute the thrust of Steve's piece, its a statement of the obvious.  All of what he says was recognised a number of years ago and if it wasn't for the issues encountered since then the new facility would probably have been up and running by now.  Its not, but all the hard work that invariably goes on in the background on a significant project such as this, most of it unseen and unappreciated, is now finally starting to bear fruit. 

[St Darren]

21 minutes ago, Steve Carpenter said:

A quick check on Companies House will give you the average age of the board Darren but to save you the time it's around 55.  The staff I would guess mid to late 30's (sorry if I'm wildly out team) not that that's a factor as they're an extremely capably bunch and that's much more important.

Nobody's going to dispute the thrust of Steve's piece, its a statement of the obvious.  All of what he says was recognised a number of years ago and if it wasn't for the issues encountered since then the new facility would probably have been up and running by now.  Its not, but all the hard work that invariably goes on in the background on a significant project such as this, most of it unseen and unappreciated, is now finally starting to bear fruit. 

Thanks Steve.  I wasn’t aware of who’s involved with the ccfa, historically it’s been older generation but then I suppose in the past it was different with regrets to volunteers rather than “staff”.  Although I maybe wrong there 

 

at the end of the day it would be great to see a proper HQ for Cornish football

[Yourhavingalaugh]

I totally agree that Cornwall needs such a facility, however, the only artificial part of the facility should be the playing surface, not its surroundings. The grounds are usually soulless places to watch a game of football when starting from scratch, pet hates; include goalposts on wheels, Perspex dugouts, green mesh fencing everywhere, various multi coloured lines on the pitch, no individual identity, lack of character, various covered seating and standing areas should be provided (not just one put on one side). In all honesty, as a spectator, I would prefer to watch matches on a grass pitch, as the play is less predictable, and mistakes are more likely, making the game more entertaining. However, such pitches are necessary to assist clubs finishing the season without having to 3 games a week. Artificial pitches should not be the norm though.

[Devils@Dusk]

So we need a Stadium for Cornwall, which focuses on football instead of rugby... Riiiiiiiiiiiiight...💀

 

 

 

[Steve Lawrence]

A statement from Cornwall's new CEO Danni  Peel (only 9 days in post so has had to hit the ground running) is now live on the CCFA website, where a list of all of the current Board of Directors can also be seen. As a current Board Member (responsible for Safeguarding and Refereeing since 2016) and as someone who has been involved in football in the county for over 50 years I can fully understand the comments expressing the frustrations of many about Cornwall lagging behind many "counties" when it comes to facilities. I've watched Steve M's "presentation" and Steve makes great points. During the last 18months (on the back of Covid prior to which idea's were discussed) Cornwall FA have worked tirelessly to see that football in the County has a headquarters to compare to others elsewhere. It will happen and I'm sure many will appreciate that such a huge idea today would not necessarily come to fruition tomorrow. As an aside Steve C mentions the average age of the current Board is around 55.....I wish...at 70 I may be the oldest but, having done my bit, I'm stepping down this year to concentrate on other football matters, the only real disappointment I have is that I will not see the "HQ" come to fruition before I go!

[Ian Pethick]

Pretty hard to disagree with anything Steve Massey says here. 

Said it before on this forum though about what a missed opportunity the Stadium For Cornwall was, especially as a 3G surface was in the spec.

Would have quite comfortably hosted the Cornish Pirates, Truro City, Cornish Rugby League and still had the capability to host multiple step 4, 5 and 6 games when needed. 

 

[The Town Man]

21 hours ago, Ian Pethick said:

 

Said it before on this forum though about what a missed opportunity the Stadium For Cornwall was, especially as a 3G surface was in the spec.

Would have quite comfortably hosted the Cornish Pirates, Truro City, Cornish Rugby League and still had the capability to host multiple step 4, 5 and 6 games when needed. 

 

The trouble being that it required public funding but would principally just be the stadium for the clubs you have listed.  I would have thought public funding would be a bit more palatable if it was for a stadium that really was for Cornwall such as one administered by the CCFA with no specific allegiances.

[Jeremy Wade]

To be honest some greats points raised by Steve "Alan Partridge" Massey.

JW