Sunday League football players at Jackey Bakers rec in Ramsgate have reacted with fury after being informed that Thanet council closures mean teams can only play on two of the seven pitches.
It is the second time this season that pitches have been closed, in December Sunday League reps were informed of plans to “allow (pitches) to rest for one week” with team bosses told there would be no games- other than Kent Cup matches- for four to five weeks. This was, however, resolved and football resumed shortly afterwards.
Now a statement by the committee to team managers and secretaries says: “During a meeting held on Wednesday about Jacky Bakers, the league were informed that two further pitches were to be closed.
“This leaves us with only pitches 4 and 5 being able to play on weekly. We have been informed this will be reviewed on a weekly basis in hope one or two may be able to be returned to use in three weeks.
“Pitch 1 is out 100% for the season and the post sockets have been removed on the old pitch 5, so this one cannot be reinstated. No midweek games or double headers will be allowed this season.
“We have also been informed that potentially no friendlies will be allowed and no league games until September for the 2026/27 season.
“There will be a maximum of 5 pitches available next season at one time to rotate two spare pitches for a week or two at a time next season, but the preference is to only use 4 every week, this is yet to be confirmed and set in stone.”
The removal of pitches for use means many fixtures, and an entire League Cup, have now been cancelled with the season likely to end earlier than the usual time in May.
The League is made up of three divisions and has as many as 900 people involved.
Mathew McKew manages the Thanet Dons team and says they have had seven fixtures cancelled with this weekend likely to be the last time they play this season.
He added: “Thanet District Council have effectively ended the adults’ men’s football season eight weeks early for most teams. It seems to be part of a concentrated effort to get rid of men’s football at Jackey Bakers.
“I voluntarily manage a team called Thanet Dons and we have had 7 fixtures cancelled because the council have banned teams from using three pitches (now gone up to five) for the rest of the season.
“Football has been played at Jackey Bakers for decades with no such issues. The council are also massively hiking the fees next year despite providing very little in the way of pitch maintenance throughout the season.
“It all comes ahead of their plans to build three 3g pitches at Jackey Bakers instead of seven full sized grass pitches and two smaller pitches, as part of a plan to get different sports up at the rec.
“I can’t help but feel the council want to get rid of adult men’s sport in favour of youth teams. It’s ridiculous, a lot of my team rely on football each week for their physical and mental health. It is an utter disgrace and the second time this year the council have attacked our league.”
Another manager said: “As a member of Sunday league community, since the new management took over I genuinely believe it has not been managed correctly. The pitches have not had any maintenance other than goal mouths being repaired and yet the council have funding in place for these pitches to be maintained correctly.”
There is also upset about a price increase for pitch use from £50 to £58 plus additional charges of £128 for use of the new changing rooms. FA rules mean if facilities are in place then teams have to pay for them whether they want to use them or not. The cost works at around 5 games – £85 per pitch, 4 games – £91 per pitch, 3 games – £101.50 per pitch, 2 games – £123 per pitch and 1 game – £188 for pitch.
Mathew said: “The pitch fee has risen 16%, and with them adding the facilities cost it means a 68% hidden increase.”
League members say this is not comparable to other pitches such as Birchington Rec at £60 St Lukes at £65 or Manston at £70.
The charges will come into effect from the new season in September.
Mathew added: “We do not understand why the council is doing this, there doesn’t seem to have been any real communication.”
Another League member added: “It’s like they are trying to push us out at a time when men are killing themselves left right and centre, this league is pivotal for some men.”
A further League member added: “The League Committee took the difficult decision to cancel the Challenge Trophy for this season. This competition has only had one round and was the easiest to withdraw as the other Cup competitions are now at the Quarter Final stages.
“Priority will now be given to Cup fixtures to ensure the other Cups can be concluded as well as any league fixtures that will have a bearing on championships/promotion/relegation.
“There is real unrest and backlash from teams.”
It is understood the committee is trying to source other pitches.
‘Recover from damage’
A League spokesperson said: “Having conducted a site visit this past week, it was a joint decision between the League and the council to rest some pitches for two weeks due to wear and tear caused by the terrible winter weather we’ve had.
“Other venues across the county have suffered similar issues and have had many matches postponed these past few months. Expectations are that we will have some pitches back shortly and a further meeting is being held the weekend after 22nd March.
“Ongoing discussions continue with the council to ensure we have as many pitches available as possible and it’s a case of short term pain for long term gain.
“We want all our teams to be able to play each Sunday, and hopefully in a couple of weeks we’ll be back to having more matches at Jacky Bakers.”
Thanet council says the closures are needed so pitches can recover from weather damage.
A Thanet council spokesperson said: “Officers met with a representative of the Thanet Sunday League on Wednesday 11 March 2026. All parties agreed the actions necessary for the pitches to recover from damage caused by continued use during extremely wet conditions earlier this year. It was agreed that:
Pitches 1, 2, 3, and 7 will be closed between Saturday 14 March and Sunday 22 March 2026.
Pitches 4, 5, and 6 will remain open with restricted use: between Saturday 14 March and Sunday 22 March 2026, only two of the three pitches can be used concurrently, in rotation.
“Officers will carry out a site meeting in two weeks’ time to review pitch conditions. It is hoped that major fixtures can be played safely while giving the ground the best chance to recover.
“We are committed to keeping grassroots football affordable while balancing the rising costs of maintenance. The fee to hire a football pitch is currently £55 per game. This will rise to £58 from Wednesday 4 April, a rise of just over 5%. This increase was agreed by Councillors at a meeting on Thursday 23 February 2026.
“From August 2026, teams will be charged to use the pavilion. The fee will depend on the day and duration and will be shared between teams. The fee will cover the cost of staff members required to operate the facility on match days. It does not include building or departmental overheads, which are met by the council.”
Thanet council says the cost of hiring a pitch remains significantly lower than the actual cost of maintenance, which is subsidised by the council. The £58 fee equates to less than £3 per player, per game (based on 22 players).
The council adds that the cost to use the pavilion varies according to the day and length of time required. For example, if all seven pitches are in use (based on 22 players per game), the pavilion hire charge of £128 equates to less than £1 per player, per game.
Absolutely appalling by the council. Years ago there was a dedicated team of groundsmen to care for the six pitches that were in use . They also prepared and maintained hockey pitches and a couple of cricket squares.
Cancellations only occurred when pitches were waterlogged or frozen, and football was played on both Saturday and Sunday. Sundays
included morning and afternoon matches
This is disgusting.The amount of pitches available in Thanet have drastically reduced. As for T.D.C saying the mantinace of the pitches have gone up, well, exactly what do they do ? Not a lot in my opinion, unless, of course, they now, cut the grass every week, prepare the pitches for matches, (put the nets up, and down, place the corner flags in. Etc. Etc.) The same goes for Cricket pitches, unless their handy work at Warre Rec years ago is what we expect from them.
TDC are going to slowly wind up the recreational use, and sell it for development. Do not be fooled by the recent expenditure, that is a smokescreen.
Appalling! Disgusting! 3 years ago there was a team of groundsman! And of course they are going to sell it for development!
Right! What happened this winter? Did it not rain almost everyday? Do you think the ground might be a little waterlogged?
What happens when grass is played on continuously and is waterlogged? Yes! That’s right it becomes a quagmire and unplayable.Doesn’t matter how many grounds persons you have that is not going to change the situation.
As for the ground staff, have we now dug up a pot of gold to pay them? No! You want all weather pitches and lots of them pay more taxes, otherwise hope that TDC will find the money to make Jacky bakers a decent venue.
As for the conspiracy theory give it a rest! If TDC do as you say then you will have the satisfaction of being, otherwise keep your anger to yourself,as there are enough angry old blighters out there.
You are missing the point. Back in the day, if the pitches were waterlogged, of course games would be called off. However, pitches wouldn’t lie fallow weeks at a time, a totally unnecessary action in my view.
Another housing estate we don’t need is sadly on the cards.
It’s not about paying more taxes George. It’s about spending the Council’s money more wisely.
Let me give you just one example. The Labour Cabinet decision to abandon their “fantasy ferries” idea has cost the annual revenue budget £690,000. Everyone tried to tell them that the “fantasy ferries” idea would never work but they just pushed on in a totally pig-headed way with it. Until, guess what ?, it didn’t work.
This decision alone has cost the local taxpayer £690,000 in this financial year. That’s money that could be spent on local services like, for example, having more resource put into maintaining local football pitches for the community. Or cleaning the streets or anything that would actually improve people’s perception of them.
So please don’t lecture us on the Council being skint and the only answer is for people to pay more. No, the answer is for the Council to get a grip and start spending money more wisely. Unfortunately this is never going to happen with a Labour Administration who have blown £8m of reserves in just two years. All we can hope for is a new broom to sweep away all the incompetence in a new East Kent Unitary Council. Roll on 2027 elections.
Why did the tories not spend the 8 million ? Why do tdc need 8 million in the bank ?
Really makes me laugh, I played football at Jackey Bakers for years, yes games got called off but the great team of groundsmen got out and worked the pitches for the next weeks game, since knocking down the old pavillion they dont even put up the Nets, its left to the home team to do this, sure the Council may cut the grass and line the pitches but that seems to be it, when the groundsmen were present it there were more teams and pitches available, there are areas of Jackey Bakers which dont even have pitches on them and if the council actually had a clue what they were doing theyd manage it better, plus Jackey Bakers was given to the community of Ramsgate never to be sold I’m pretty sure youll find.