Astroturf Pitch Now.

[Ya Bezzer!]

If we installed an artificial pitch we'd never win another game again. We'd be non league in 5 seasons!

[Kmcalpin]

The injury thing is brought up by teams managers and players who are looking for an excuse before playing on them.

 

Not so. This season, Derek McInnes and Tom Wright have expressed concern about playing on artificial pitches. They said the surfaces would influence their team selection. Thats quite consistent with your statement above. However, both Alan Johnston at Kilmarnock and Alex Neil at Hamilton have also expressed identical comments. Johnston said recently on BBC Radio that he had not been able to pick Eremenko as often as he'd like due the surface at Rugby Park. Across the Clyde, at the time of our League Cup tie, Neil said that the surface there had exacerbated the injuries of a couple of players (Antoine-Curier being one?)

Football clubs' attitude to artifcial pitches has not changed over the years. Directors love them for economic reasons but managers and players hate them.

 

 

[jamesc]

I wouldn't pay season ticket money to watch football on a plastic pitch. Just naw. Should be fuckin outlawed in top flight football.

[gaz7]

The negativity on here from some who have there main reason as"just coz" is laughable and I for one only hope our club leaders do not have the same attitude.some of you are stuck in the dark ages and also footballs traditions are in danger of slowly killing the game as we know it.as saw by an article in daily record a few wks ago showing that ice hockey at braehead 3k att and basketball at emirates 1800 att people are getting involved in other sports at the expense of football.

[Brazilian]

none of footballs traditions are killing the game, if football got back to its traditions it would survive well within its own means

 

Social clubs,

 

regular easily accesible events, as a hub of a commmunity large or small

 

grass has worked just fine for over 100 years

 

saturday 3pm, there are dozens of significant reasons for this

 

players with an attitude of being privileged to appear for a team as an alternative to the rat race

 

stand with your mates, or free to move away from bawbags

 

offside is offside

 

and boots are black

[David]

and boots are black

 

What's wrong with pink or yellow?

[sbcmfc]

Hamiltons pitch is awful!

 

It suits their pressing style of play, as it's an absolute lottery how the ball will bounce, that combined with low confidence leads to the panicked hoof to "safety" we saw from us every time we got the ball on New Year's Day, and gave it straight back to them!

 

It wasn't why we lost the game, but it can certainly be used to your advantage.

['Wellfan 2k7]

First post in a long time and feel like i can weigh into the conversation.

 

Plastic pitches would be advantageous to the club in the long run. Financially, It can be rented out at a cost of £100/hr (Maximum) which can be pocketted by the club and would pay itself off in a season. It would reduce the need for the annual relaying process and midseason tear. So, at a cost of around £50'000 for a FIFA 2* 4G pitch, minus the annual cost of groundwork plus rent, the club would make a tidy sum every year. Not to mention the fact that it can be used accross the board for training and playing purposes. Another exciting prospect would be using the stadium for Youth level cup finals/games. Although not a highly lucrative possibility, it would certainly add to the "Community Club" tagline we drag around with us. All hypothetical, ofcourse.

 

As for comparisons with other teams, only Falkirk, Airdrie and Alloa have a FIFA 2* pitch (to my knowledge) which they are using for games. Stenhousemuir have the worst pitch I have ever seen which is an old style astroturf. I have seen these pitches first hand having worked in Youth Football, and have never seen a bad game. Its not down to the pitch, its down to the team playing on it. If Hutchison Vale U14s can go from Saughton Enclosure to playing on Airdries pitch without a change of style, there is no excuse for a top flight clubs not to do so. (Saughton Enclosure being a very well kept, but very bumpy and rough pitch)

 

I reckon a better plan would be to invest in a privste 3G for training/renting which will provide the players witha place to enhance their abilities on the stuff. I know the team use Ravenscraig during the winter, but that will be at a substantial cost to the club.

 

EDIT: Teams not including the aforementioned Hamilton and Kilmarnock

Edited January 7, 2015 by 'Wellfan 2k7

[Pepper]

I was under the impression that the costs to level the pitch and work required on the stand foundations and surrounding areas would prohibit the installation of a plastic pitch.

 

Was it not muted that it would involve moving thousands of tonnes of earth just to get the pitch somewhere near flat? I think some folk don't realise just how much of a slope we have. Just look at the wall at the front of the Cooper, it's about three feet different in height at each end.

 

If plastic pitches continue to improve it is something we will undoubtedly have to consider but that time won't come till we relocate to a new ground.

 

You can argue all you want about the pro and cons football wise, as always it comes down to money.

[Yabba's Turd]

See these skills honed for years on astroturf? What happens to those skills when they play on grass? It's not the same surface, nowhere near it, when it's dry the ball sticks and when it's wet it zips away. Astro is ok for a game of sevens or fives with your mates, but for professional fitba we need something better than what's on offer.

[Haggischomper]

Plastic pitches will melt in the glare of the Scottish sun when we finally move to summer fitba

[Busta Nut]

I am against plastic parks

[EightSixteen]

I am all for plastic parks if it helps us financially. The reduction in costs (training & ground upkeep) is not to be sniffed at for a club that makes a loss regularly.

 

The only thing that worries me more than our league position is how fucked we are financially. Anything that goes toward reducing our outgoing costs is a big positive in my book.

[Onthefringes]

Fanciful notion for some, to the point we can't be sure if trolling or serious. Too say the slope at our current home could be dealt with is laughable unless the demolishing & reconstruction of the stands is part of any plan, these suggested money savings would be where?

 

How many of these clubs are utilising the pitches for community use? We have the council run Ravenscraig facility on our own doorstep, would the patrons who use that suddenly stop & rent any new pitch at Fir Park or are you suggesting there are/will be a new generation of willing customers?

 

We also have in the development stage a community hub off Shields Drive that will feature both artificial & natural surfaces. Currently, we utilise the differing surfaces at both Dalziel Park (whose grass surfaces can be held in same regard as grade A pitches eg, the national stadium & our top flight with the recently laid artificial surface identical to that at Rugby Park with its longer pile type that allows rugby to be played) & our academy pitch at Braidhurst on favourable terms so the push for a new facility isn't driven by running costs, but, by a view to the future.

 

For the record, there is no such surface as 4G, 5G or 6G pitches. Creative advertising by the manufacturers, claiming to have the latest innovation of synthetic sports surfacing. Basically saying they have designed the fourth generation, fifth generation and sixth generation of the sports artificial carpets, but, no accreditation is yet given for this standard to date.

[Frazzie]

AstroTurf is not the answer. We're right to look on enviously at Accies at the minute, but that's not the part of their business model we should be looking to replicate. Tearing ourselves away from two-year deals as standard while bending over and accepting almost every paltry offer for our players would be a start, and our reliance on this hand-to-mouth policy during our recent good spell has gradually chipped away at our chance of sustaining it, and is (in my opinion) the single most significant reason we find ourselves in our current predicament.

[StAndrew7]

Regardless of the pros and cons, I think the slope prevents any consideration of laying an artificial surface. I don't remember the figures quoted, but when the pitch problems were being addressed (partly due to the slope), someone in the know posted the details and it was a deal breaker.

 

I remember it being quoted as in the £millions, at least.

 

As for the rest, I play on artificial pitches a lot of the time with my current 11s team and physio for them too; I haven't noticed a significant increase in injuries over that time compared to my last team that played more on grass. If anything, grass was worse because of slippery conditions etc during the winter (we played on decent pitches too, not many quagmires).

 

For me though, cost would be too prohibitive. That and we wouldn't have moments like the 'Deep End' sign again, which was top notch.

[Bigeeze]

The negativity on here from some who have there main reason as"just coz" is laughable and I for one only hope our club leaders do not have the same attitude.some of you are stuck in the dark ages and also footballs traditions are in danger of slowly killing the game as we know it.as saw by an article in daily record a few wks ago showing that ice hockey at braehead 3k att and basketball at emirates 1800 att people are getting involved in other sports at ythe expense of football.

Claymores used to get between 3 b 4k at Hampden for NFLEL games

[Kmcalpin]

Too say the slope at our current home could be dealt with is laughable unless the demolishing & reconstruction of the stands is part of any plan, these suggested money savings would be where?

 

Agreed. I think the slope is of the order of 4/5 feet. In terms of the pitch alone it would mean removing or building up thousands of tons of soil not to mention possibly having to drill/blast underlying rock depending on the geology. Its simply not an option and could cost millions taking into account associated works to stands etc.

 

 

 

[Malky79]

Was there not talk of us being involved with a new training facility in some sort of redvelopment of pitches in Motherwell area not that far from Fir Park? Irrespective of what we play on for matches we certainly could use better year round training facilities.

 

I'm not really bothered what we play on provided what we watch on it is worth paying for. I understand a certain degree of skepticism but I not entirely convinced by the alleged injury fears of certain players and managers regardless of how well or poorly their team is doing at any time. Players pick up injuries regardless of the surface and I'd pick the current level of artificial surfaces over a churned up mudheap every time. Offer me an excellent grass pitch and by all means that would be my first choice.

 

It would seem Fir Park isn't well suited to an artificial surface so it might well be out but unless we do move to summer football(although with the winter break instead of summer a grass park might not recover to well in any case) if we ever move from Fir Park it would seem to be a sensible option to consider should a new site not have the same barriers.

 

Hamilton don't seem to have to many issues adapting when they go back to a grass park as their 4-0 doing of us earlier in the season indicated, and as for getting people to use it why not? Fir Park Corner pay to use the pitch behind the South Stand and so do others for game of 7's already. With a better surface and playing in the ground or at our own/shared training facility I don't forsee a major issue getting people to use it.

[Bop]

The Claymores average attendance was over 10k.

[tottenmfc]

Artificial pitches are not the answer and as soon as you start taking decisions that will greatly affect the footballing side based purely on finance you're gubbed.

It can't be a coincidence that across the board professional players / coaches / managers are against these pitches either. Playing amateur football on them is ok but even then I'd rather play on a reasonable grass pitch.

There are even players taking legal action against them... I know it's women's football so it's basically a different sport but still:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29453614

[weeyin]

Also a different sport, but there a number of American Football clubs over the years who switched to astroturf and switched back to grass pretty quickly because of the extra injuries it was causing - mostly due to players' feet 'sticking' when they turned sharply and causing ankle and knee problems.

[Malky79]

Football and American Football are two very different sports with considerably more impact in the latter. So even if they were using 3G rather than the older type I vaguely recall seeing them use I'd find it a poor comparison.

 

I'd take Jan Ekstrands position over anyone else mentioned right now unless some other rigourous study has been undertaken to show increased risk of injury.

[gaz7]

massive benefit out-side hiring the pitches out to the public is the fact that all the youth/academy teams can train on the surface during the week and play their youth league fixtures on it too. Which is a massive cost saving for the clubs in the SFL, most of which don't have a training academy. I dont know but i would imagine it cost for our partnership with braidhurst.Partick Thistle for example are paying out a large chunk in hiring pitches for all the youth-sides, where as Stenhousemuir or Alloa aren't.

question to ask ourselves.1, would it give our players at all levels an advantage however slight over other teams we played on it.2 would it be financially viable and beneficial for our club. And the answerto both questions is yes.

[Pepper]

2 would it be financially viable and beneficial for our club.

 

You must be at the madam.

 

The answer is clearly no, it isn't financially viable. We can't afford to spend millions of pounds levelling the pitch and rebuilding half of the ground just to install a plastic pitch!