Exeter are having to make a significant outlay on re-surfacing and re-draining the pitch at St James's Park, to the possible detriment of improving the playing side. A new drainage system is being installed before re-seeding begins and Exeter's acting chief executive Julian Tagg has admitted it is going to cost the Grecian's a `significant sum'.
He told the Exeter Express & Echo: "It's a significant amount of money that it's going to cost us which we weren't expecting. It's a significant sum which we are going to have to find next season."
The new work comes just a year after City spent £150,000 on laying a brand new playing surface at St James's Park, and groundsman Clive Pring has explained the new system is needed in order to improve the pitch.
"We've got some additional drainage going in this year so the water does actually drain away," said Pring.
"There were one or two issues at the top end of the surface, within the turf itself and the immediate area underneath, and that meant the only way to deal with that really was to rip off the top end of the surface and start again," said Pring.
