PFA call for ban on plastic pitches in Scottish Premiership

[Carheenlea]

Be interesting to see where this goes.

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/footb...yers-1-4873087

[04Sauzee]

Hopefully we will see every club in the the top league in Scotland playing on grass

[HibbySpurs]

This is now a no brainer. The people most affected by there use are saying the don’t want to play on them as they are inconsistent and recovery from playing on them takes longer should see them outlawed from the top flight of Scottish Football.

Whilst I appreciate that the pitches can benefit clubs on a budget in multiple ways (I.e pitch can be used more for say community use creating revenue) and not just lower maintenance costs it is apparent that the use of plastic pitches is detrimental to both the actual skill and level of play on them they are also hurting players (in fact is there not a player who will simply not play on them due to previous knee injuries (name eludes me)).

This isn’t amateur, junior or semi-pro football we’ Talking about it is the pinnacle of the game in Scotland which is being affected.

Clubs should have grass pitches properly maintained and replaced as required to promote the highest possible level of entertainment for supporters whilst helping prevent injuries to players.

If a club can’t afford a decent grass playing surface then in my opinion the question really has to be asked if that club is on a solid enough financial footing to be playing in Scotland’s top flight?

[HoboHarry]

Just out of curiousity, out of all of our injuries this season, does anyone know what % were directly attributed to artificial pitches?

[ancient hibee]

Watching on TV it seems that some of the bad fouls at Kilmarnock are caused by the ball bouncing much higher that it does on grass catching out players who had started to put foot to ball.

[Brightside]

Hamilton and Livi will struggle tbh. Livi especially is a community pitch and used by hundreds of kids every week. SO as much as I'd like all the clubs to have decent grass pitches there is a down side at "grass roots" level.

[Onion]

Great idea. Sooner they get rid the better.

What do they do about hybrids ?

[Sioux]

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Hamilton and Livi will struggle tbh. Livi especially is a community pitch and used by hundreds of kids every week. SO as much as I'd like all the clubs to have decent grass pitches there is a down side at "grass roots" level.

Its up to the local authorities to provide recreation venues, not pro football clubs.

[Real Emerald]

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Hamilton and Livi will struggle tbh. Livi especially is a community pitch and used by hundreds of kids every week. SO as much as I'd like all the clubs to have decent grass pitches there is a down side at "grass roots" level.

I understand your concerns for the community and grass roots football but these are clubs in the top tier of Scottish football. If they can’t survive without plastic pitches they maybe should be playing in a different league structure. We really need to get our game looking like top class football and not some backwater of Europe operation. Look at the injuries all the clubs are having this season. No one knows what affects these pitches have had on the players bodies but I cannot remember a worse year for players of all clubs being out injured.

[JeMeSouviens]

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Hamilton and Livi will struggle tbh. Livi especially is a community pitch and used by hundreds of kids every week. SO as much as I'd like all the clubs to have decent grass pitches there is a down side at "grass roots" level.

Is there not a full size plastic pitch next to Livi's ground? We (Scottish football in general) should be able to provide community facilities without them needing to be the home grounds of our top flight clubs!

[Antifa Hibs]

In top flight football pitches should be used only for matches. I noticed our's too looking a tad cut up on Saturday - assuming we trained on it during the colder days when East Mains frooze over?

Anyway if Livi, Killie and Hamilton want plastic pitches to maximise revenue then drop a division. Should be neowhere near top flight footballl.

Junior teams can afford to maintain grass pitches but professional clubs can't?

[scooby]

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Is there not a full size plastic pitch next to Livi's ground? We (Scottish football in general) should be able to provide community facilities without them needing to be the home grounds of our top flight clubs!

Yes there is, one of my kids train on the main pitch twice a week, along with hundreds of other kids, it's probably a good source of income for Livi.
Have to agree that it is a poor surface though, and definitely not fit for the Scottish top flight.

[Keith_M]

Well done, I totally support this.

[green day]

Much though I would like everyone to be playing on the same surface it doesnt necessarily follow that grass = good and astro = bad...........Molde didnt seem to struggle on our grass despite plastic over there.

I dont think its as cut and dried as some think, would like to see some evidence before we start kicking teams out.

Also - good grass pitches are very expensive, Tynies new one was 7 figures, iirc?

And while ER may look ok at a distance, the surface grass layer is very thin, I get a good view from my seat in the West and pretty much the first slide tackle takes off the grass down to the mud.

[Michael]

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Just out of curiousity, out of all of our injuries this season, does anyone know what % were directly attributed to artificial pitches?

How can you say an injury is directly cause by a plastic pitch?

[HoboHarry]

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How can you say an injury is directly cause by a plastic pitch?

You can't and that's part of my issue with this subject. I hear lots of calls to ban the pitches because they cause injuries but no one ever mentions that players get injured on grass all the time. I would argue from my playing days that I would rather play on an artificial pitch in winter than some rock hard grass pitch. This whole subject seems to me to be a big red herring used to beat smaller clubs who have chosen to install artificial pitches for financial reasons.

[Brightside]

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Its up to the local authorities to provide recreation venues, not pro football clubs.

Local authorities cant even provide decent grass public pitches. Its a major issue especially in Edinburgh

[Michael]

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You can't and that's part of my issue with this subject. I hear lots of calls to ban the pitches because they cause injuries but no one ever mentions that players get injured on grass all the time. I would argue from my playing days that I would rather play on an artificial pitch in winter than some rock hard grass pitch. This whole subject seems to me to be a big red herring used to beat smaller clubs who have chosen to install artificial pitches for financial reasons.

I tend to agree with the injury side of it.

However, I do think that the top level of the sport should be played on grass. In the top league with better TV money the financial aspect shouldn't really come into the equation. Plenty of lower league teams get by with grass.

[HoboHarry]

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I tend to agree with the injury side of it.

However, I do think that the top level of the sport should be played on grass. In the top league with better TV money the financial aspect shouldn't really come into the equation. Plenty of lower league teams get by with grass.

Ok, but why?

[Hibeesmad]

Outside Scotland are there any plastic pitches in any of the other top leagues around Europe?

[green day]

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Outside Scotland are there any plastic pitches in any of the other top leagues around Europe?

See mine above - Molde

[Famous Fiver]

I played schools, boys club, under 21s, Edinburgh Amateur, Lothian Amateur, Maybury League, covering 30 years or so and never played a single competitive match on a plastic pitch. Every last one was on grass.

Trained on artificial, played 5s on artificial, and indoor 5s. Not the same game, in my opinion.

I am firmly in the grass only camp.

All senior clubs should have to provide a grass surface, in my opinion.

[SquashedFrogg]

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Ok, but why?

Because it provides a natural playing surface for football?

Also, Tam McCourt wouldn't be where he is today playing on 4G!

[Real Emerald]

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You can't and that's part of my issue with this subject. I hear lots of calls to ban the pitches because they cause injuries but no one ever mentions that players get injured on grass all the time. I would argue from my playing days that I would rather play on an artificial pitch in winter than some rock hard grass pitch. This whole subject seems to me to be a big red herring used to beat smaller clubs who have chosen to install artificial pitches for financial reasons.

I don’t think it’s cut and dried but the players are saying that recovery time is longer after playing on plastic and if that’s the case an injury on grass in the next game could have been because of the stress on muscles etc. from the plastic pitch days before. Who knows though!?

[HoboHarry]

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Because it provides a natural playing surface for football?

Also, Tam McCourt wouldn't be where he is today playing on 4G!

I get that but football is also a business and smaller clubs have the right to exist whether we like it or not. To me the "****ty wee club who only get 2000 per game" is a daft one. I'd be happy to be proved wrong but it seems to me that some players and fans want the rules on plastic changed "just coz" instead of actually explaining specifically how the game would benefit......

[Bostonhibby]

Agreed. Long overdue. I'd ditch the ones that don't meet UEFA standards as well. All these wee pitches

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[blackpoolhibs]

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Just out of curiousity, out of all of our injuries this season, does anyone know what % were directly attributed to artificial pitches?

My eyes have bled every time we've played on that bloody surface, so its a get rid from me.

[Beefster]

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Its up to the local authorities to provide recreation venues, not pro football clubs.

I thought that Almondvale is owned by the council out there?

[hibbysam]

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I get that but football is also a business and smaller clubs have the right to exist whether we like it or not. To me the "****ty wee club who only get 2000 per game" is a daft one. I'd be happy to be proved wrong but it seems to me that some players and fans want the rules on plastic changed "just coz" instead of actually explaining specifically how the game would benefit......

He gave you a benefit by saying the bounce and roll would be natural. Clubs who allow the 4G surfaces to dry out making bounces and roll horrendously inconsistent makes it very dangerous. Recovery time after an Astro game compared to a grass game is markedly longer, long term issues on joints is there for all to see. It’s not all about injuries there and then. Game looks and flows better results in a bigger audience and commercially more viable for broadcasting deals.

[where'stheslope]

The theory of grass V plastic pitches is simple, if you can afford grass you have grass pitch, if you can't, and want to make money from your pitch, you have plastic!

Once everyone has grass pitches, the next step is everyone must have hybrid pitches, and so it goes on!

There are more injuries to players that happen on grass pitches than on plastic, mainly due to there are more grass pitches?

It would be interesting to see if in the course of a season, the difference of Hamilton injuries on their pitch to ours at Easter Road!