[duncanawoods]

Aw, I thought this was going to be about football pitches...

John Beck did a fair amount of "pitch doctoring" at Cambridge United. He would play an exclusively long ball game, hoofing it to a set of 7ft tall strikers. To help with this, he demanded that the grass be grown long in the corners to hold up the ball and basically ploughed the rest of the pitch to kill any attempt at a passing game. He was nicknamed "Dracula" for sucking the life out of the game :)

[physicsguy]

https://backofthenet.fandom.com/wiki/John_Beck

> The corners of the pitch developed their own eco-systems and it was all too common to see a player go to take a corner only to be mauled by a cougar.

[bencollier49]

When Curzon Ashton (a wonderful low-league team from Greater Manchester) managed to get through to the second round of the FA Cup, drawing AFC Wimbledon, the manager decreed that the pitch lines at the home ground be narrowed to the minimum permissible width, in order to hamper Wimbledon's more refined style of play down the wings.

[kitd]

> Wimbledon's more refined style

Imagine having a less-refined style than Wimbledon

[bencollier49]

It's great stuff for the kids to watch. You can get a seat near the touchline and it teaches them how to play real physical football. :-)