Will field conditions force Oakland Roots to postpone or cancel next home game?

Just days before their next scheduled home game the Oakland Roots find themselves without a suitable home pitch to play on.

After being forced to call off their home opener because of poor field conditions, the Roots released a statement on Sunday evening saying they will have a new turf field in place at Laney Stadium starting with their July 10 game. However, in the short term, the team is “working on solutions” to host their June 26 game against Austin Bold.

The Roots’ portable soccer field is made of dozens of rectangular pieces of field turf that are laid out and connected together that cover the existing track and football field at Laney Stadium. This Oakland Roots YouTube video gives a glimpse of the assembly process:

On Saturday photos of the turf field show the pitch appearing not uniform, but instead as a patchwork quilt of pieces. Oakland Roots ground crew were seen tweaking the field a few hours before the scheduled start of the game.

Oakland has used the same portable turf field for their first two seasons in NISA. The field was previously used by the NASL’s Rayo OKC based in Oklahoma City and the New York Cosmos.

The Roots opponent on Saturday, the Sacramento Republic, shared a video on Twitter of Roots Chairman Steven Aldrich apologizing to traveling Sacramento fans about the game cancelation.

Respect on the field. Respect off the field. Thank you to @oaklandrootssc chair @spaldrich for coming out to our tailgate. Looking forward to the next one. pic.twitter.com/8xTILiyVYy

— Republic FC (@SacRepublicFC) June 20, 2021

“We’ve played on this pitch in the past and it did not pass the referee walk today,” Aldrich announced. “I’m sorry for that. We’re going to work hard to make sure that we understand the feedback and that the referees believe it’s safe so we can get these matches on in the future.”

However, on social media some Oakland fans, including the Roots supporters group LaBrigada Del Pueblo, voiced some displeasure.

“Nothing but love for the players, fans and staff of the @oaklandrootssc,” read a Twitter post from LaBrigada Del Pueblo. “Ownership, on the other hand, has to get their s*** together. Less t-shirts, less marketing, more soccer.”

SFGATE reached out to the Roots to request an interview with a team representative for additional questions about the field condition, but the request was declined.