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Monday morning. Ground fenced off. I’m not an expert but I can’t see any play there this season.

No different health and safety wise to a muddy Leederville Oval or Morabbin Oval....play on I say.

Rain has finally come down, a lot of soggy yellow sand, cannot see it being ready for 2024.

Kikuyu only needs about 15-20 degs to keep growing and so far we have not had cooler temps and a unusual warm autumn and early winter might see some better coverage but come July, August it will slow right down.

Had a chat with a couple of EF supporters after the game on Saturday, he said they they should forget about playing on it this season and just let it grow and get it ready for next season. Probably wise words.

He was surprisingly complimentary about the new facility, he has obviously had a tour of it. He said there's a nice restaurant there apparently.

Not sure that's a priority for a football club, I think having capacity for a lot of bums on seats with comfort from the elements is a much bigger priority.

Didn't someone say due to budgetary restraints they had to reduce the capacity by about half? But found room in the 35 million dollar development to build a nice restaurant?

FMD I guess that's what the locals demanded and they got what they wanted. That's probably the sort of shit my club is facing, locals will probably want a nice restaurant and a cafe at the expense of seating capacity and a creche for the kids while they are sipping their latte. Lol

I have had a walk right through the facility DD.

The "Restaurant" operated completely privately and separated from the club, is a Cafe Style set up with a coffee counter and tables set up inside near the bar, which is a smallish full cocktail style bar with a range of pricey craft beers, the bar itself while attractive to look at it is clearly not designed for WAFL or footy crowds and very much for cashed up locals to come and have breakfast and lunch while the kids mess about in the connected playground.

Its clearly too small for a big derby mob. It would struggle to cope with a large crowd and the viewing area is not the best for the game. I can only imagine they would need a can tent someplace as most WAFL people wont be forking out 15 bucks for a pint of fruity smelly balter XPA for the duration of the game. There are no mainstream beers on tap.

How is the EFFC supposed to survive I wonder? No social premises, gate takings, bar receipts, is there space for signage around the ground for sponsors although I'm not sure I would sponsor the club if value for money was taken into consideration. I truly hope it's not as bleak as it appears for the club.

I cannot see anything viable about the entire concept BC.

Any bar-hospitality takings are gone, there won't be a "club" premises to use any more so one wonders how memberships will go, the gate takings are gone unless they change plans, and an interesting point on sponsors signs, there is no signage up and I would not be surprised if the terms restrain advertising around the ground.