Calling Out Astro Pitch

[Up-the-slope]

Well done to the manager for calling out that ridiculous playing surface at Livi - choose the right time after a good win (rather that it being heard as sour grapes after a defeat)

With all the noise about selling the 'product' and trying to improve the game - insisting on decent quality GRASS pitches is one of the easiest ways to do that... and provide a 'Level' playing field :greengrin

[Bridge hibs]

Do Livingston train on the pitch too or do they have a dedicated public park to train on ?

Kilmarnock rent their pitches out for 5s etc and use it as a means of income, I would be surprised if the Scottish football chiefs insisted on those clubs tearing their plastic pitches up if they are used as a means of income or training

[OstKurve Hibs]

Do Livingston train on the pitch too or do they have a dedicated public park to train on ?

Kilmarnock rent their pitches out for 5s etc and use it as a means of income, I would be surprised if the Scottish football chiefs insisted on those clubs tearing their plastic pitches up if they are used as a means of income or training

I'm sure I've heard martindale say they train on it aswell, he argument in favour of the pitch is that they train on it everyday and dont get the injuries other clubs complain about.

[Brightside]

Livi pitch is used every day.

[lucky]

These pitches should be banned at Premiership level.

[Iain G]

You would think Martindale would know where to source good quality grass from!

[Donegal Hibby]

I see Johnson has spoken about the Livvy pitch yesterday which he was quite right to do . Martindale himself has admitted in the past it's a advantage to his team against others . Why any association running a top flight football league would allow a pitch like that is beyond me and makes a complete joke out of the league. Should be banned from the Scottish premier league .

[The dalmeny]

Livi pitch is used every day.

isn’t it a ‘community’ asset ?

[Hibernian Verse]

I'm sure I've heard martindale say they train on it aswell, he argument in favour of the pitch is that they train on it everyday and dont get the injuries other clubs complain about.

That argument didn’t hold much weight yesterday with the two bad injuries they picked up as a result of a bobbling ball

[Onceinawhile]

isn’t it a ‘community’ asset ?

Yes.

The football club don't own it. It's used for lots of different teams, including the 2nd year of 7 a side football for all the west lothian teams.

[leith lynx]

You would think Martindale would know where to source good quality grass from!

😂👍

[NAE NOOKIE]

Yes.

The football club don't own it. It's used for lots of different teams, including the 2nd year of 7 a side football for all the west lothian teams.

Which is fine .... but c'mon in the vast hinterland that is west Lothian don't tell me the local council couldn't have found a bit of land near the town to build a community astroturf facility on that local youth clubs and the like could play on to their hearts content.

Astroturf pitches have no place in top flight football and especially the crap ones Livvi and Killie play in ... if you seriously can't even afford to maintain a grass pitch what the hell are you even doing attempting top flight football anyway?

[bingo70]

Yes.

The football club don't own it. It's used for lots of different teams, including the 2nd year of 7 a side football for all the west lothian teams.

Is that not the pitch behind the stadium?

The stadium pitch is used every night if the week for thr livingston pro youth set up.

That’s not to say you’re, wrong they might just use it earlier or later than the pro youth side.

[King Cosell]

These pitches should be banned at Premiership level.

I could be wrong here but I'm pretty sure we could have banned them from the Premiership last season with an 11 to 1 vote, harder now with Killie back in the top flight.

[JohnM1875]

Well done to the manager for calling out that ridiculous playing surface at Livi - choose the right time after a good win (rather that it being heard as sour grapes after a defeat)

With all the noise about selling the 'product' and trying to improve the game - insisting on decent quality GRASS pitches is one of the easiest ways to do that... and provide a 'Level' playing field :greengrin

What did LJ say? I hate the fact we allow them in the top flight. Looks shocking on TV as well.

[Silky]

Well done to the manager for calling out that ridiculous playing surface at Livi - choose the right time after a good win (rather that it being heard as sour grapes after a defeat)

With all the noise about selling the 'product' and trying to improve the game - insisting on decent quality GRASS pitches is one of the easiest ways to do that... and provide a 'Level' playing field :greengrin

He's a slaver, though. Everything he says is taken with a large dose of salt.

[GreenCastle]

Community foundation get a grant and get the pitch put down.

Limited maintenance costs compared to some teams grass pitches = more money for the team.

It’s used by loads of teams - hence why the community grant for the pitch and not just 1st team.

Same with Killie.

[Carheenlea]

There’s a good reason that no club who has one ever plays football. There’s a way to play on them, and the simple lob it forward and try and win the second ball then get it lobbed forward again around the box seems to be the tried and tested method.

We started to play more to the conditions after the early concession and while we played more football than Livingston we were adopting a bit more of a robust and less thrills approach than we are accustomed to which worked in our favour.

As enjoyable an afternoon as it was, there was very little football played.

[Paul1642]

Do any of Europe’s top leagues have any clubs with plastic pitches? I appreciate that out climate is a little harsher and we have clubs with smaller budgets but it really is quite embarrassing at top level.

Also not that it’s likely to be an issue any time soon (hopefully) but are they allowed for European competitions?

[HarpOnHibee]

As enjoyable an afternoon as it was, there was very little football played.

Yep, but that was always going to be the case anyway. We had the option of either losing ugly or winning ugly. We did the latter and we did it convincingly.

[McSwanky]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I can't understand how man can't manufacture a surface which is at least as good as what is basically a patch of earth with a hardy weed growing on it.

What I will say is that my boy would much rather play on a decent astro than some of the grass pitches he's faced with at youth level. Some of the surfaces are shocking.

So astro absolutely has a place, just maybe not at the top level.



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[Carheenlea]

Easter Road certainly looks a lot better today. Had read some responses on other threads regarding Livingstone’s pitch that ours wasn’t exactly brilliant right now, but going by this there has been a bit of an improvement.

https://twitter.com/sthomas1987/status/1632415864388501507?s=46&t=03KvtapbemQQWjh_HZzAeA

[21.05.2016]

The plastic pitches are a nightmare. Even the look of them is horrible.

Well done for calling it out especially, as a previous poster mentioned, after a win so its not seen as a case of excuse making.

[Onceinawhile]

Is that not the pitch behind the stadium?

The stadium pitch is used every night if the week for thr livingston pro youth set up.

That’s not to say you’re, wrong they might just use it earlier or later than the pro youth side.

The pitch behind is used as well. It's usually on a saturday or sunday morning and depends on the livi team and where they are playing.

At least that was the case when my eldest was at that stage (2020)

[.Sean.]

Do Livingston train on the pitch too or do they have a dedicated public park to train on ?

Kilmarnock rent their pitches out for 5s etc and use it as a means of income, I would be surprised if the Scottish football chiefs insisted on those clubs tearing their plastic pitches up if they are used as a means of income or trainingNovel idea. Why don’t clubs cut their cloths accordingly and find their level as opposed to renting out their guff plastic pitches through the week and filling their pockets with three stands full of Old Firm dregs 3/4 times a year. We must be the only country in Europes top leagues where teams do so and it hardly projects a professional image, if anything it makes clubs look desperate.

[easty]

Novel idea. Why don’t clubs cut their cloths accordingly and find their level as opposed to renting out their guff plastic pitches through the week and filling their pockets with three stands full of Old Firm dregs 3/4 times a year. We must be the only country in Europes top leagues where teams do so and it hardly projects a professional image, if anything it makes clubs look desperate.

They are desperate.

[Bridge hibs]

Football League expresses interest in artificial pitches


Artificial turf may be making a come-back in the English Football League any time soon. The turf, increasingly popular in the European football leagues, had been banned from the Football League in 1995, but the governing body last week announced to start a consultation round which may lead to a change of rules.

In the 1980s four English clubs, Preston, QPR, Luton and Oldham, made the switch to artificial turf, but after a review in 1989 the FA decided to ban artificial surfaces. However, the turf of that time was nowhere near the quality of the turf today, and several clubs in the lower leagues have been tentatively informing on the possibilities of a rule change.

As the main benefits of playing on artificial turf are generally mentioned cost savings, increased revenue, and less postponed matches.

Though having a higher initial cost, artificial surfaces have less regular maintenance costs. Money could furthermore be saved by having the first, reserve, and youth teams train and play at the same pitch. Higher income could be achieved by opening the stadium up for more outside events without any negative effects on the condition of the pitch.

Opponents of artificial pitches have often argued that the use of artificial pitches leads to increased injuries, that the ball behaves differently, and that the home team has an advantage by being used to the different conditions. And though this may have been the case of the artificial surfaces of the eighties, there is currently no evidence (pdf) that supports any of these claims.

FIFA has been more supportive than the FA, and has already created its own certification of artificial turf, as well as started a preferred producer initiative. Artificial pitches are allowed in most competitions, however to host a European Cup final real grass is required. FIFA does also add that their recommendation to use artificial pitches only applies for regions where weather conditions negatively affect the use of a natural pitch.

Luzhniki is probably the highest-profile stadium with an artificial pitch, but they are fairly common in, for example, the Norwegian league, and have also recently been introduced in the Serie A by Italian sides Cesena and Novara, in Ligue 1 by French clubs Lorient and Nancy, and have already been used for several years by Dutch Eredivisie sides Heracles Almelo and Excelsior.

Stadiums in the other top European leagues, the Bundesliga and Primera División, are however still exclusively equipped with natural pitches, and it is also not likely that the smell of grass will disappear from the Premier League any time soon. For England’s lower leagues though, tradition may soon have to give in for plastic.

[.Sean.]

They are desperate.
Well maybe they should find their level and stop embarrassing themselves and looking as desperate by hooring out 1/2 or 3/4 of their stadiums to sectarian gloryhunters and imposing their pish plastic pitches on the rest of us

[easty]

Well maybe they should find their level and stop embarrassing themselves and looking as desperate by hooring out 1/2 or 3/4 of their stadiums to sectarian gloryhunters and imposing their pish plastic pitches on the rest of us

I dinnae like it either. I'll be delighted when they eventually get relegated.

They'll bring in more revenue from ticket sales to Rangers and Celtc fans over those 3-4 home games in the season, than they'll bring in from their own season ticket sales. It's probably more than double from those games than the total amount they make from season tickets.

[Irish_Steve]

The funny thing is that Youan's second goal wouldn't have trundled in on a grass pitch lol

[Rick Rude]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/10/phillies-ball-players-cancer-artifical-turf

Are the pitches here made of different materials or should this be added to the list of reasons they should be nowhere near football?

[Up-the-slope]

What did LJ say? I hate the fact we allow them in the top flight. Looks shocking on TV as well.
that he hated that we had artificial pitches in the premiership