Dundee City Council has been forced to take another football pitch out of commission, after two footballers suffered nasty leg wounds.
Carnoustie Athletic centre-half Gareth Watkins had surgery on a tear in his tendon after a stone on one of the council-owned Riverside pitches ripped open his knee.
”I bust my knee open,” Gareth (28) said. ”I slid to intercept the ball and I came up with a hole in my knee. I was in a lot of pain.”
Gareth was rushed up to Ninewells Hospital where he was taken into theatre to repair the tear to his tendon.
Kevin Thomson, who was playing for the opposition team, Club 38, was also injured.
His team manager, Jimmy Lamb, said: ”Two of the guys got really nasty injuries.
”I believe Kevin had a cut to the knee. He fell on stones or glass.”
Gareth said when he was in hospital his consultant told him that earlier in the year he had treated around half a dozen patients for similar pitch-related injuries.
Gareth is now off work as a foreman at Arnold Clark for two weeks while he waits for his injury to heal.
”I’m on painkillers and antibiotics,” he said.
”I was kept in on Saturday night.
”I suppose I’m lucky it’s my first proper injury.”
Carnoustie Athletic went on to beat Club 38 on penalties during the North of Tay cup tie.
However, while the teams were able to finish the game, a complaint about the state of the pitch was lodged with Dundee City Council.
Mr Lamb said: ”It’s terrible. You just take it for granted that the pitches are going to be OK.
“I wouldn’t be terribly confident about playing down there. There’s meant to be games there at the weekend.”
Spectator James McCormack added: ”These players expect to play on a surface that is free from hidden ‘mines’ and the consequences that they have to suffer when they contact them pain, suffering, loss of earnings and perhaps permanent disfigurement.
”This is not good enough, and if proper action is not taken it is only a matter of time before someone suffers much more serious consequences.”
This is not the first time the Riverside pitches have come under scrutiny.
The pitches were closed last December after they were deemed too dangerous to play on.
Four of the six West End pitches were reopened in August after work to make them safe.
A council spokesman yesterday said one pitch has now been closed since the weekend’s injuries.
He said: ”Regular inspection and planned maintenance is undertaken on all pitches at Riverside.
”Following a similar incident last season, all of the pitches were taken out of commission from December for the remainder of the season.
”Substantial resources were directed at the issue in an effort to ensure safe usable pitches for this season.
”Out of the six pitches at Riverside, two are still out of use because we weren’t satisfied they were ready.
”Council staff have visited the site and no obvious problems were immediately apparent.
”However, the pitch has been taken out of commission until we are satisfied it is safe to use.”