Grantham Town: Crows force postponement by damaging pitch
- Published
Crows also caused problems at League One club Lincoln City last year
The word used to describe a group of crows is a 'murder'.
And that word may also give a clue to the feelings of some Grantham Town staff towards the birds after they damaged their pitch to such an extent that Monday's game had to be postponed.
The Gingerbreads were due to face Worksop Town in a Northern Premier League East fixture.
But crows attracted by the prospect of a tasty meal of chafer grubs, which have infested areas of the playing surface, made that impossible.
"The club discovered they had these chafer grubs a few weeks ago and the only way you can treat them is to replace turf and that's what Grantham have been doing," said BBC Radio Lincolnshire's Grantham reporter Graham Cowell.
"But they turned up this morning and overnight the crows look to have had an absolute field day, they've ripped a patch up just outside the penalty area on the north side of the ground. It almost looks like it could have been more than crows, foxes also apparently love the chafer grubs."
It is a common occurrence for under-performing teams to be 'given the bird' by supporters.
It is far less common for an avian attack force to stop a team playing - especially one who won their previous home fixture 5-1.
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According to the Royal Horticultural Society website:, external "Chafer grubs are the soil-dwelling larvae of chafer beetles. Depending on the species of chafer they either feed on decaying plant material or plant roots. Some, which are not garden problems are found in borders and compost heaps.
"However, several species that feed on the roots of grasses can cause problems in lawns."
The crow issue does appear to be one that is particularly prevalent in Lincolnshire.
In 2018, four pitches used for games in the Lincoln and District Sunday Football League had to be taken out of use following damage by crows.
Last season, League One side Lincoln City used models of birds of prey to try and deter feathered marauders from attacking their pitch to bury scraps of food found on the terraces.
Grantham now face a race against time to try and renovate the pitch to a reasonable standard for Saturday's FA Cup first qualifying round tie against Rugby Town.
"This time of year, I read somewhere and it's almost like something from a horror film, you can introduce nematodes [a type of worm] which biologically kill the grubs off - and that can be done from this time on, but it involves scarifying and takes a few weeks," said Cowell.
"It's almost crows one, Grantham Town nil, isn't it?"
At least Worksop were spared an unnecessary journey. It is 39.2 miles to Grantham's South Kesteven Sports Stadium - as the crow flies.