Newport Gwent Dragons and Newport County continue to be mired by the mud-bath that passes for a pitch at Rodney Parade. Robin Davey believes both teams now risk being booted out of their respective leagues next season.  

 

The alarm bells are ringing out loud and clear over Rodney Parade and that notorious pitch.

The problems are now well documented, but the situation stooped to an all-time low on Sunday when the Newport Gwent Dragons-Newcastle Anglo-Welsh game was played on something resembling a lake.

The decision to host three teams at the ground has been considered a disaster for a while, but what happened on Sunday was a complete farce when a match went ahead which should never have been started.

But Newcastle were in Wales and playing the game at a later date was not really an option. Though Cross Keys was considered as an alternative venue – the pitch was even marked out – the late arrival of the referee scuppered that possibility.

As it was, he gave the go-ahead and irrepressible Dean Richards, head honcho at Newcastle was willing. He’d have loved playing on it in all probability!

But then the heavens opened and what started as a treacherous surface rapidly became something resembling a swimming pool. Eventually, replacement referee Gareth John mercifully called a halt 12 minutes from the end.

While Dragons chief executive Stuart Davies fronted up with his explanations, the position has now reached crisis point.

There is the promise of more drainage work being done in the summer, but plans ought to be in place now which they palpably aren’t.

And even doing the minimum amount of work is going to cost tens of thousands and neither Newport County nor the Dragons have the funds to pay for all the work.

So, as it stands, there is every possibility the situation will be repeated next season whether or not the fault lies with having three teams playing on the pitch, whether it’s the drainage, or whether it’s the host of flats going up nearby which many claim does affect the water table.

And that’s where the real crisis comes in. For I have little doubt time will be called on one team or another, the governing bodies will not allow teams to play on what is a cross between a mud-heap and a lake during the harsh winter months.

I reckon the Welsh Rugby Union or the Football League – or even both -will pull the plug. They will refuse permission for league rugby or football to be played on that surface.

It’s not too dramatic to say that the future of Newport County or Newport Gwent Dragons playing at Rodney Parade could be very much on the line.

One of them – maybe even both – will have to go, either go under or find somewhere else to play.

And that would make it impossible for owners Newport RFC to remain at Rodney Parade as well. For it costs £1m to keep the place going, taking all the costs into consideration and there’s no way Newport playing in the Welsh Premiership could afford that.

It could be that the Football League and the Welsh Rugby Union will step in with financial support. But is that likely?

Heads need to be cracked together, and quickly. Maybe they even need to roll. But one thing for sure is that the current shocking situation can’t possibly continue or swimming will be the only sport suitable for Rodney Parade.