Heatwave [Re. Playing conditions]

[Wedgie_pie]

Could they not make the games evening kick-off?

When I'm in Sorrento (my wife is Italian) I try to go to a local match either Sorrento FC they normally kick off at 8.00pm or Napoli they kick off at 5.30pm, which hot weather wise makes sense...Guess the problem in he UK with late kick offs could be fans travelling back home after some of the matches...

[Elite_Pie]

Hmm, remind me again as to why we’re having the World Cup in November this year…

Because of brown envelopes under the 6* hotel room door, simple as that.

I’m not sure cricket and football are at all comparable when it comes to exertion, for the reasons you’ve mentioned.

I offered that as a comparison mainly because it was recent and local. How about this comparison from the Marathon Des Sables website:

"The glaring sun. The heat (up to 50°C). The sand – lots of it. These will be your constant companions, alongside 1,000 other runners from across the globe, spanning cultures and physical abilities – but united by the quest for adventure and to achieve something different from the crowd. It will be hard. Your feet will swell. They will crack. They will bleed, as you cross the world’s largest hot desert. The Fourth Day will take you out of the Saharan morning into dusk, dark and beyond as you cover more than 80kms (52 miles) in one relentless stage of running. But you will find the strength to power onwards like those who have run before you, to the exhilaration and joy of the finish line".

That makes 90 minutes of football at Boreham Wood look like a gentle stroll on a warm day. It's an extreme example, but it shows what a physically fit human body is capable of. I can also offer a very tame personal example, because when I was 55 and on holiday in Egypt the temperature regularly hit 40 degrees C. The perverse side of my nature made me choose to run around 10K when the heat was at it's peak just to see what it was like. It was bloody hard, and I was 5 minutes slower than I would normally take, but I survived. I've watched a football match in Portugal in around 35 degree temperatures and it was quite normal for them. It's a lot of fuss about nothing.

Next thing we'll be hearing players can't be expected to play twice a week!

[queenslandpie]

Because of brown envelopes under the 6* hotel room door, simple as that.



I offered that as a comparison mainly because it was recent and local. How about this comparison from the Marathon Des Sables website:

"The glaring sun. The heat (up to 50°C). The sand – lots of it. These will be your constant companions, alongside 1,000 other runners from across the globe, spanning cultures and physical abilities – but united by the quest for adventure and to achieve something different from the crowd. It will be hard. Your feet will swell. They will crack. They will bleed, as you cross the world’s largest hot desert. The Fourth Day will take you out of the Saharan morning into dusk, dark and beyond as you cover more than 80kms (52 miles) in one relentless stage of running. But you will find the strength to power onwards like those who have run before you, to the exhilaration and joy of the finish line".

That makes 90 minutes of football at Boreham Wood look like a gentle stroll on a warm day. It's an extreme example, but it shows what a physically fit human body is capable of. I can also offer a very tame personal example, because when I was 55 and on holiday in Egypt the temperature regularly hit 40 degrees C. The perverse side of my nature made me choose to run around 10K when the heat was at it's peak just to see what it was like. It was bloody hard, and I was 5 minutes slower than I would normally take, but I survived. I've watched a football match in Portugal in around 35 degree temperatures and it was quite normal for them. It's a lot of fuss about nothing.

Next thing we'll be hearing players can't be expected to play twice a week!

Good analogy Elite. A few years ago I decided to get fit and run the Gold Coast Half Marathon mainly as I had never done one and my main guiding principle was that once I had done it then it could never be taken away from me even if it was a rubbish time ( which it was). it was in the middle of winter and I managed the 22 odd Km in about 2 hours. I really enjoyed getting fit for it the training doing it and the feeling of accomplishment. I stayed fit for a while and took the running into spring and summer. Once summer hit I stopped though as due to no daylight savings it was bright at 4am and boiling by 6am. Running in that heat on a regular basis, was frankly not enjoyable to me at all. It was hellish. I could still do it but I just didn't enjoy it anymore so I stopped. It was not the physical side of it it was the mental side of it. Same will apply to the players on Saturday as mentally they are not acustomed to it. Same applies to a Brazilian playing on a wet Tuesday in Dover etc etc.

[drillerpie]

It will probably affect the pace of the game as 36 is pretty damn hot, bit the players will be fine as they've just had an intense pre season in hot temperatures, and they have medical and nutritional people looking after them.

Supporters might want to think about taking some precautions though!

[slack_pie]

I think that's a sensible and adequate precaution. When did we become so f@cking fragile that we can't run around for 90 minutes in temperatures that will seem a bit on the warm side in many parts of Europe? It will be more draining than normal, but it's not like it's putting lives at risk. The 'other Notts' played a cricket match on the hottest day of the year and a batsman occupied the crease from 11am until 6:30pm. It's not quite the intensity of football and they had longer breaks, but I would guess the overall physical exertion would be greater than any player at any level produces in a football match.

Edit: Forgot to add that FIFA selected Qatar to host a World Cup.

A 36 degree temperature would be a bit on the cool side over there!

Exactly. I watched a top-flight game in the Czech Republic a few years back when the weather was in the high 30s. I don't think the players or fans there thought anything of it. Likewise, you get games going ahead in sub-zero temps with snow piled up on the sidelines. Nobody cares.

I don't know what the medical guidance is on this, however. Perhaps some people are more susceptible to heatstroke/heat-related exhaustion than others.

[lunaspie]

There was the fire caused by an overheated generator beneath the main stand at the PNE home game in '87.
People spilled onto the pitch for a short delay but the match was completed.

[Oldstripy]

Temperatures of 35-36 degrees forecast for the southeast on Saturday. Unpleasant for watching, never mind playing. A chance that the Borehamwood game could be the first Notts match postponed because it’s too hot?

Borehamwood need to water their pitch.

[ncfcog]

They say the very highest temperatures in 1976 were about 35 C. This is much more severe.

I know, it was very much tongue in cheek.

[Magpies1959]

Why don't they just leave the sprinklers on during the match.

[queenslandpie]

If our cricketing bowlers can toil in December QLD heat ALL DAY at the gabba I am sure our team can manage 90 minutes against Boring Wood you bunch of big girls blouses. Having said that its been the coldest winter I can remember here.