Bill busy as Hooton Lodge is vandalised

Flooded

Speaking to the clubs official website, the Millers groundsman Bill Corby spoke of the work done on the pitch at Millmoor over the summer and the floods that caused the club problems and money!

During the floods in July the Railway end of the ground was under water as the River Don broke its banks just about everywhere in Rotherham town center.

"We definitely had a big problem with the flooding, which was well documented. We had a lot of water at one end of the pitch and it caused us to re-turf the goal mouth. There was a lot of damage to the pumps and the seats in the ground which involved a lot of cleaning up because of the debris the water left behind. We are still actually ongoing with the process of cleaning up and repairing what was damaged after the effects of the flooding." Bill said

"The pitch is fine now, we have played four games on it and the grass looks quite well. There is no damage to the grass and in fact we are actually putting more water on to the grass to make it softer. We have a week now to prepare for the first home game against Sheffield Wednesday. The players are training on it this week so that we can finish the remedial at the training ground, which is a bigger problem at the minute. "

Todays Rotherham Advertiser reports that Hooton Lodge has been a target for vandals over recent weeks with youths riding bikes over pitches damaging them, the club have also had equipment stolen from the training ground.

But a bigger problem for groundsman Bill Corby is the latest attack where sections of turf were ripped up and graffiti scored into the turf, just after a new £120k playing surface had been laid following the recent floods which contaminated the Millers training ground.

The club will now employ round-the-clock guards at Hooton Lodge in an attempt to stop and catch the vandals.

Millers director Dave Costin told todays Advertiser, "Enough is enough. We will be introducing 24-hour dog wardens to keep idiots people out. If we catch them, they will be handed over to the police."

"Everyone knows we are a struggling football club without a lot of money. What makes these people want to do this, I don't know. My message is that we will not lay down and die. Stay away from the training ground or face the risk of being caught."

"The money we made on Sunday's open day will now have to go on repairs and that's so sad." Costin added.

Anyone with information of the vandalism, which occurred between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, is asked to ring South Yorkshire Police on 0114 2202020.