Narrower pitch

Interesting comment from the manager in his post match interview that the pitch at Twerton has been narrowed following a request from the players.

Am I right in thinking that this benefits a more direct game? Hope so.

So do I.

I don't understand why the players would have any influence on the shape of the pitch. Surely it is the manager and coaches that decide how we are going to play? Or is it for health and safety reasons? Or because the dug out is too close to the pitch?

I welcome the news about the pitch being narrowed from two angles........firstly whilst I appreciate any improvements to the playing area / perimeter protection is probably under a much wider review with the FA unless we can provide any protection to the ground walls, barriers it makes sense to reduce the playing area to provide wider run off areas. So even shortening the pitch in addition to narrowing would increase these margins at the corner areas. Obviously I'm thinking of the injury etc to Alex and delighted to hear the more recent news that his recovery is continuing to progress so well but anything that can be done to improve safety needs to be paramount.

Secondly the players have sometimes mentioned after hard fought matches......wow that pitch is big ! ....so maybe they should have a say in the size of the playing area that best suits their game and tactics. Whatever size it is I'm sure we have a host of keenly fought local derbies to look forward to this season.....the smaller the pitch the more the intensity !!

I remember the whippet colliding with the Bath end wall in an evening game. Ambulance on the pitch to take him to hospital.

The length of the pitch hasn't changed so there isn't more run off at the ends and the width has only changed by a smidgen. I doubt any spectator would notice the difference. The playing surface is only reduced by 1.5% and I doubt the players will notice that either physically especially those that have never played on it before.
I had never realised it was a big pitch but if it is bigger than other pitches then I would have thought it would benefit our players more playing on it week in week out. But I have never played competitively so what do I know?
But there will be practical benefits of reducing the width as the corners get a lot of wear as do the tramlines where the linos run up and down.

I believe we have one of the biggest pitches in this division. The manager often comments about the likes of Hampton’s being particularly narrow. I don’t know if that’s the smallest. There is a huge distance between the main stand and the smaller structure on the opposite side at Chelmsford but 30% of that must be taken up by the running track!

Tovid - are you allowed to share the dimensions out of interest? I think most pitches these days are 115 x 74 yds so just wondering if ours is the same.

I don't actually know the overall dimensions but I do think it is hilarious that we still work in yards. eg penalty area is 54ft.
The range for pitch sizes is very generous so there is still potential for further reductions in future seasons.