United under the weather

Rye United’s football match at home to Peacehaven & Telscombe on Tuesday night was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch and the visit from Lingfield on Saturday is also in doubt.

Speaking late this morning, Rye chairman Clive Taylor said: “It’s like a paddling pool. I was down here yesterday and the overnight rain’s made it worse than it was then.

“The majority of the pitch is fine, but at the clubhouse end just to the right of the goal there’s a six-metre square area under water. Part of the pathway round the pitch and part of the player walkway is under water as well.”

Areas of the ground, mainly at the western end, have been affected by a sea water issue since early August. The salt water has killed large patches of grass, most of which are not on the pitch, and these have flooded in wet periods.

It’s been caused by a pair of sea valves on the same pipe failing and not closing completely, allowing sea water to pass through The Salts’s drainage system at high tides. The Environment Agency has carried out repairs at Simmons Quay.

“We will make every effort to get the game on obviously, but there’s only so much you can do,” added Taylor. “If we get much more rain it will be doubtful. At the end of last season the pitch was in really good condition.”

See tomorrow’s Rye Observer for the full article and all the latest Rye United news.