Chief operating officer Paul Douglas spoke to the Advertiser this week on the
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Douglas said to the Tiser: "Undersoil heating was something we were considering even before the current cold spell."t's difficult to justify at the moment (at Don Valley) for obvious reasons and you have to bear in mind that it costs an absolute minimum of £500,000 to rip up a pitch, install the heating system and relay it again.
"Clubs in the top flight can get back that investment in three or four matches but few clubs, if any, at our level have that sort of money and anyway, it would take so long to recoup the time and investment.
"The good thing is that you can factor the cost in if you're building a new stadium and that's one of the things we are considering as we look towards hosting bigger games and crowds. Even then, the covers only take affect down to a temperature of minus 5," he said.
"Despite that, matches can still be touch and go if you're not getting enough sun on the pitch in daylight hours. You're in the lap of the gods. "hat's one of the problems we've faced recently.
Another way clubs have used to combat the cold are the hiring of heaters used under a tent type structure, Douglas saying: "From my second-hand information, these blowers cost around £15,000 to hire and it's a 72-hour operation.
"That might be OK for a club like Doncaster Rovers, who on my understanding considered it to get one of their games on. They get crowds of 10,000 and that can make it worthwhile as a one-off investment.
"For ourselves, it's a no goer."
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