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londonblue

Topgun Pilot
Joined
Feb 18, 2004
Messages
19,160
I've always been against plastic pitches because I've always felt football should be played on grass. However, I was watching a bit of the Albion/Rangers game last night and it seemed to me that the new generation of plastic pitches plays as well as grass, and certainly the players seemed to be comfortable with it.

I then started to think that the last couple of seasons we have struggled with appalling weather that has affected the quality of the pitch. Last season it was the freezing temperatures that didn't give the pitch a chance to repair, and this season it was the amount of rain it had to endure.

So, the question I have is, is it time to look seriously into installing a plastic pitch? Not necessarily at Roots Hall, but maybe in a new stadium should it ever get built...
 
Well the new 3G pitches that only a handfull of non league clubs have are brilliant, ive played on one at Hayes FC, and compared to older times, these 3G pitches are brilliant. But I'd only install them for non league clubs who struggle to get all fixtures played.
 
I think it makes sense in Scotland, because otherwise the only viable alternative is moving to a summer league a la Scandinavia.

The non-league have just rejected plastic pitches in the conference which IMO is a big mistake.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25953774

For league football - it's really difficult. This season has definitely been bad and some teams like Newport have a backlog. Whether teams would have an advantage with plastic pitches is hard to tell really.

I'd like to see more decent plastic pitches in general which can be used by non-league/semi-pro/sunday league teams because the real disruption happens at a grass roots level (no pun intended). training and football can be better quality on a plastic pitch and the safety concerns have been resolved from what I've seen.
 
Clubs like Grays and Braintree are 5-8 games behind other teams. For example Grays had 10 games in hand on Thamesmead about 2 weeks ago. So in non league i think they need to be introduced, but not in football league.
 
I think it makes sense in Scotland, because otherwise the only viable alternative is moving to a summer league a la Scandinavia.

The non-league have just rejected plastic pitches in the conference which IMO is a big mistake.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25953774

For league football - it's really difficult. This season has definitely been bad and some teams like Newport have a backlog. Whether teams would have an advantage with plastic pitches is hard to tell really.

I'd like to see more decent plastic pitches in general which can be used by non-league/semi-pro/sunday league teams because the real disruption happens at a grass roots level (no pun intended). training and football can be better quality on a plastic pitch and the safety concerns have been resolved from what I've seen.

In the past I would have said teams with a plastic pitch had an unfair advantage. The most obvious was Oldham who hardly ever lost at home when they had theirs. (It unquestionably helped them into the top division.) However, I don't think that argument holds any more since the newer pitches play more like real grass.

Also, we may not have had many games postponed, (actually none) this season, but the pitch has been awful, and has affected our form to a certain extent. However, form wasn't the reason for this post, the fact that the pitch led to pretty poor playing conditions is.
 
In the past I would have said teams with a plastic pitch had an unfair advantage. The most obvious was Oldham who hardly ever lost at home when they had theirs. However, I don't think that argument holds any more since the pitches are more like real grass.

Also, we may not have had many games postponed, (actually none) this season, but the pitch has been awful, and has affected our form to a certain extent. However, form wasn't the reason for this post, the fact that the pitch led to pretty poor playing conditions is.

yeah that's a good point. if we want the quality of English footballers to improve then we need the best pitches and facilities we can offer, at all levels of the game.
 
I think plastic pitches still suffer, reputation wise, from the dreadful ones the likes of QPR and Luton had in the 1980s. But they've moved on massively now and even some rugby clubs (Saracens, Widnes) use them. If they're ok for rugby, they're ok for football.

Plastic pitches can be a massive money spinner for clubs too - not just through fewer postponed fixtures, but through being able to hire out the pitch when not in use. Maidstone Utd love theirs so much that they would possibly turn down promotion (if they finished high enough) in order to continue being able to use it.
 
If the ball behaves exactly the same as it does on grass then I dont see any reason why not.

If there is any difference then its a big no for me.
 
If the ball behaves exactly the same as it does on grass then I dont see any reason why not.

If there is any difference then its a big no for me.


It doesn't.

I remember the first year we went out to Madrid and Sturrock had the right 'ump the Rayo Vallecano friendly was being played on a 3G pitch.
 
It doesn't.

I remember the first year we went out to Madrid and Sturrock had the right 'ump the Rayo Vallecano friendly was being played on a 3G pitch.

Until it does then Im out...

Can see the benefits of them but does have to be the same.

Then again maybe we wouldnt have had sandpitgate at Col U....
 
Until it does then Im out...

Can see the benefits of them but does have to be the same.

Then again maybe we wouldnt have had sandpitgate at Col U....

To be fair, there are plenty of differences in pitches anyway (size, grass, slope etc). Playing at Underhill is pretty different to playing at Wembley or Old Trafford.
 
If the ball behaves exactly the same as it does on grass then I dont see any reason why not.

If there is any difference then its a big no for me.

I'm not sure of that. For me there needs to be two things, firstly (as you say) that the ball behaves the same. But secondly I'd say that they have to not lead to an increase in injuries to players. If it meets both requirements then I think it should be looked into seriously.
 
It's been shown that these pitches are great for healthy fit footballers, but very bad for players with dodgy knees etc. It's something to do with twisting and turning, whereby proper grass pitches give, but these plastic ones don't, so much more strain on knees and other parts.
 
Isn't Huddersfield's pitch a mixture of grass and plastic to help it cope with the Rugby being played on it too?

Always thought that one played ok
 
Think these pitches are given bad press. It's not as bad on knee's or bad to tackle on, these new ones feel like you are playing on a normal pitch!
 
I'm a massive fan of the latest generation of artificial pitches. They really are as close to grass and don't suffer from bad bounce and you can slide tackle though refs out here in HK really are turning this game into a non contact sport, unless I get given a western ref. I played both at Loftus Road and Kenilworth Road plastic pitches and that really was like playing a different game,e altogether. When I play out here I sometimes forget I'm on artificial they are THAT good. I am a traditionalist but I really wouldn't be against this.

We have some grass pitches out here but standard varies from excellent to sandpit with no middle ground.
 
Somebody should take a long, hard look at the artificial pitch at the Allianz Stadium in North London. It's Saracens Rugby Clubs home "turf" for all of their Aviva Premiership, Heineken Cup etc. rugby matches and therefore takes far more of a pounding than any football pitch. From memory, it contains millions of tiny black synthetic balls that, apparently, help mimic the real thing.
 
Somebody should take a long, hard look at the artificial pitch at the Allianz Stadium in North London. It's Saracens Rugby Clubs home "turf" for all of their Aviva Premiership, Heineken Cup etc. rugby matches and therefore takes far more of a pounding than any football pitch. From memory, it contains millions of tiny black synthetic balls that, apparently, help mimic the real thing.

My son plays football on an artificial surface. When he comes home the house gets filled with those things!
 
Somebody should take a long, hard look at the artificial pitch at the Allianz Stadium in North London. It's Saracens Rugby Clubs home "turf" for all of their Aviva Premiership, Heineken Cup etc. rugby matches and therefore takes far more of a pounding than any football pitch. From memory, it contains millions of tiny black synthetic balls that, apparently, help mimic the real thing.

Agreed. When Widnes RL first had it, there were a few injuries and everyone had a panic, but it turned out to be mostly coincidence. The number of injuries at Widnes compared to other Super League grounds is no different.

My son plays football on an artificial surface. When he comes home the house gets filled with those things!

Rubber crumb I think it's called. And yes, it gets EVERYWHERE!
 
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