Top flight clubs to vote on outlawing plastic pitches from 2026

[Carheenlea]

I’d assume Hibs will be in support of banning the plastic surfaces

https://i.postimg.cc/m2QmztDH/IMG-3318.jpg (https://postimg.cc/XpYftN9j)


(The resolution needs a 9-3 vote in favour to pass)

[DaveF]

Good.

This should sail through, as who in their right mind would vote against it.

[Sioux]

I’d assume Hibs will be in support of banning the plastic surfaces

https://i.postimg.cc/m2QmztDH/IMG-3318.jpg (https://postimg.cc/XpYftN9j)


(The resolution needs a 9-3 vote in favour to pass)

There are only two clubs with plastic pitches just now, and Killie have already said they'd move back to grass.

So a yes vote would seem likely.

[Paul1642]

I thought that this has already been passed and came into effect for the 25/26 season. Absolutely no idea where I go that form. Probably because that’s when Kilmarnock are changing to grass.

[babahibs]

You've got to wonder why it's taken so long, should've been banned in the top league years ago.

[blackpoolhibs]

I want them banned, especially those that we seem to have in Scotland.

I have seen some on tv that look much better, but the ones we've been subject to in Scotland seem to be a very cheap option that's nowhere near good enough for top flight football in any league.

Until such times as we cant see any difference, then we need to keep it grass.

[scoopyboy]

Could lead to an interesting situation in the championship as several have plastic pitches.

Get promoted and possibly having to rip up a very expensive pitch that had recently been laid

[Green Reaper]

Could lead to an interesting situation in the championship as several have plastic pitches.

Get promoted and possibly having to rip up a very expensive pitch that had recently been laid

Won't be recently laid if this is not happening until 26/27 season, plenty time to sort it

[Viva_Palmeiras]

I’d assume Hibs will be in support of banning the plastic surfaces

https://i.postimg.cc/m2QmztDH/IMG-3318.jpg (https://postimg.cc/XpYftN9j)


(The resolution needs a 9-3 vote in favour to pass)

I agree - it should be illegal - jail them and throw away the key.

I wonder if the Hibee of did the Klinnsman dive at EEP still has the friction burns - and if it damaged his family tree prospects….

[Not In The Know]

Could lead to an interesting situation in the championship as several have plastic pitches.

Get promoted and possibly having to rip up a very expensive pitch that had recently been laid

Astro is mince BUT in our climate and with limited finances it's an option for some lower league clubs. What needs to be done/created is an official grading/marking of the condition of them. Livi's is a disgrace my local team has a better surface.

[PHeffernan]

Won't be recently laid if this is not happening until 26/27 season, plenty time to sort it

That would make sense if clubs knew who was going to be promoted and in what year.
Are you expecting every Championship club to spend on a new grass pitch on the off chance they might get promoted someday.

[basehibby]

PLEASE - they are minging

[CropleyWasGod]

That would make sense if clubs knew who was going to be promoted in each year.
Are you expecting every Championship club to spend on a new grass pitch on the off chance they might get promoted someday.

It's a bit of a conundrum.

Many Championship clubs have plastic pitches because of the commercial benefits. Are we going to have a 2-tier Championship, made up of clubs who are quite happy to stick with the commercial certainties, and those who might be termed "ambitious"?

What happens if most clubs (perhaps all) decide to have plastic pitches? Will the competition for promotion be reduced to a couple of clubs? What would that do to the fans? Will they stop going if their club has effectively given up on promotion?

And what would be the point of play-offs?

[PHeffernan]

Astro is mince BUT in our climate and with limited finances it's an option for some lower league clubs. What needs to be done/created is an official grading/marking of the condition of them. Livi's is a disgrace my local team has a better surface.

Agreed, artificial pitches should be graded and there should be a minimum standard for each league.
Young Melkersen had never played on a grass pitch before he arrived at Hibs and our Northern based clubs are not far from Scandanavia.
Strange that most of our plastic pitches are in the central belt.

[Green Reaper]

That would make sense if clubs knew who was going to be promoted and in what year.
Are you expecting every Championship club to spend on a new grass pitch on the off chance they might get promoted someday.

No, I am not expecting that but all clubs have a 2 Years to do so if they want to be pushing for promotion to the top league. Having said that, the cost factor may be an issue for some.I don't know what other way to implement the grass only rule, which most fans seem to want in the top league.

[Houston7]

No, I am not expecting that but all clubs have a 2 Years to do so if they want to be pushing for promotion to the top league. Having said that, the cost factor may be an issue for some.I don't know what other way to implement the grass only rule, which most fans seem to want in the top league.
Do Raith Rovers not have a plastic pitch? If so, winning the promotion /relegation battle with Ross County could be costly in a couple of years - after strengthening squad for top flight.

[whiskyhibby]

Could lead to an interesting situation in the championship as several have plastic pitches.

Get promoted and possibly having to rip up a very expensive pitch that had recently been laid


That would be their choice, they can always remain where they are………

[Joe6-2]

About time

[Colr]

I thought the Easter Road pitch was going to be replaced with a hybrid. Did that happen?

[JimBHibees]

I thought the Easter Road pitch was going to be replaced with a hybrid. Did that happen?

Think the one we have now is. Looked in exceptional condition for last game of the season

[Smartie]

The “powers that be” in this country get a fair bit of deserved grief.

If difficult conversations are to be had re VAR and plastic pitches, then there may be signs that our game is going to move in a better direction.

[jacomo]

It's a bit of a conundrum.

Many Championship clubs have plastic pitches because of the commercial benefits. Are we going to have a 2-tier Championship, made up of clubs who are quite happy to stick with the commercial certainties, and those who might be termed "ambitious"?

What happens if most clubs (perhaps all) decide to have plastic pitches? Will the competition for promotion be reduced to a couple of clubs? What would that do to the fans? Will they stop going if their club has effectively given up on promotion?

And what would be the point of play-offs?


All good questions, but plastic pitches are minging and should be nowhere near the Scottish top flight. There's also potential serious health risks that aren't well enough understood (ingesting the black 'crumb' that gets kicked up into the air on pitches like Livi's can't be a good idea).

Some sort of solidarity fund could maybe be put in place to help clubs make the change - after all, it would benefit all the other Premiership clubs too.

[.Sean.]

Could lead to an interesting situation in the championship as several have plastic pitches.

Get promoted and possibly having to rip up a very expensive pitch that had recently been laid
To me that’s just tough tits mate - a professional football clubs pitch should be just that, not some plastic carpet they rent out to make a wee bit extra cash from anyone who wants a shot on it

If a club can’t survive without renting their pitch out they should cut their cloth accordingly and find their place in the lower leagues

[NAE NOOKIE]

At the moment clubs pay to maintain VAR. Bin the bloody thing and set up a fund that helps clubs maintain a decent standard of grass pitch. EG, if you get promoted to the premiership and have a plastic one there's a fund to help you replace it, on the condition you don't go back to plastic if you get relegated.

In the end this goes to Scotland having far too many professional / semi professional clubs all looking for finance. 42 in a nation of 5 million people is mental on the face of it and it's one of the reasons we have clubs renting out plastic pitches to make what must in the grand scheme of things for a premiership club be a pretty insignificant income from it.

A top league of 16 and a 2nd division of 18 is about as much as we should have, with north and south regional leagues with 10 teams in each, where you still have a pathway into the top leagues. Simply on the basis that of all the 42 top league teams in Scotland exactly how many have a hope in hell of ever making it to the premier league?

If you did this now there would only be a single club below the 34th and last club in the top two divisions that has played in the top flight Dumbarton and them returning there any time soon is about as likely as us beating Celtic 5 - 0 the next time we meet.

[Carheenlea]

Why should some clubs get hand outs to lay a proper pitch if they win the league after having the advantage over their competitors by playing on their plastic pitch every other week?

If clubs can’t afford to play on a proper pitch then they can’t afford the status of being a professional premier league club. Cut their cloth accordingly.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Why should some clubs get hand outs to lay a proper pitch if they win the league after having the advantage over their competitors by playing on their plastic pitch every other week?

If clubs can’t afford to play on a proper pitch then they can’t afford the status of being a professional premier league club. Cut their cloth accordingly.

See your point. But we had a situation back in the day where Aberdeen avoided relegation because the club replacing them didn't have enough seats, or an all seated stadium. Why should a premiership team avoid relegation on a technicality? EG if RR won the playoff, but couldn't replace Ross County because County play on grass and they don't.

And as I said, in my scenario once you were helped to lay a grass pitch you wouldn't be allowed to return to one even if you were relegated.

This goes to what I said about the number of clubs we have. For about half the clubs in our top leagues the premiership is an impossible dream and going to grass in the hope of making the top league wouldn't even register.

[Hibernian Verse]

Agreed, artificial pitches should be graded and there should be a minimum standard for each league.
Young Melkersen had never played on a grass pitch before he arrived at Hibs and our Northern based clubs are not far from Scandanavia.
Strange that most of our plastic pitches are in the central belt.

There are places in Norway that don't get above freezing for months over the winter. We don't have that issue here.

[Donegal Hibby]

Pitches like Livvy's and Killies should never have been allowed in the top flight , makes the league look amateurish, gives the teams that have them an unfair advantage and more importantly spoils the quality of the football .

[Donegal Hibby]

Four clubs unite in grossly unfair plans to ban artificial pitches in the premier. No prizes for guessing who they are .

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-clubs-unite-to-slam-grossly-unfair-plans-to-ban-artificial-surfaces-in-scottish-premiership-4639403

[matty_f]

I have a good deal of sympathy for the idea if a find to support clubs to have good quality grass pitches.

We need to market the game better, games on shan pitches do nothing to support that - I’m delighted Livi are going down because i Jane never seen a good game on there involving us (win, lose or draw) or any other team - apart from that time they put four or five past Hearts, that was decent.

There’s enough money in the game to support top flight teams having grass pitches and if the league created a central fund to support teams (maybe on a sliding scale based on their turnover) then i would rather that than have teams disqualified from promotion or staying up by default.

[Gettin' Auld]

I have a good deal of sympathy for the idea if a find to support clubs to have good quality grass pitches.

We need to market the game better, games on shan pitches do nothing to support that - I’m delighted Livi are going down because i Jane never seen a good game on there involving us (win, lose or draw) or any other team - apart from that time they put four or five past Hearts, that was decent.

There’s enough money in the game to support top flight teams having grass pitches and if the league created a central fund to support teams (maybe on a sliding scale based on their turnover) then i would rather that than have teams disqualified from promotion or staying up by default.
What about your pal Tarzan? :greengrin

[Gatecrasher]

It's a bit of a conundrum.

Many Championship clubs have plastic pitches because of the commercial benefits. Are we going to have a 2-tier Championship, made up of clubs who are quite happy to stick with the commercial certainties, and those who might be termed "ambitious"?

What happens if most clubs (perhaps all) decide to have plastic pitches? Will the competition for promotion be reduced to a couple of clubs? What would that do to the fans? Will they stop going if their club has effectively given up on promotion?

And what would be the point of play-offs?

Are the commercial benefits of getting into the Premiership not far outweight renting your pitch out to the local 5's league?

Also if I was a fan of a club who refused to ditch their pitch following a successful promotion campaign I'd be questioning the clubs reason for existing.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

Are the commercial benefits of getting into the Premiership not far outweight renting your pitch out to the local 5's league?

Also if I was a fan of a club who refused to ditch their pitch following a successful promotion campaign I'd be questioning the clubs reason for existing.

this conundrum is a the heart of what the football authorities should be focused first and foremost - the sustainability of the game and viability of its clubs. Can hardly blame the clubs for getting creative and tapping into alternative sources of income working with the assets they have

[Phil MaGlass]

Aboot time these pitches were banned, it was fn ridiculous how Killie got away with the state of the plastic pitch they had. Definitely an advantage had over other teams.

[erin go bragh]

I thought the Easter Road pitch was going to be replaced with a hybrid. Did that happen?

Yes

[overdrive]

Think the one we have now is. Looked in exceptional condition for last game of the season

Is something happening with the pitch in the close season? Joelle Murray put a picture of the stadium on her Instagram story this morning, presumably from the offices in the South Stand. You can see the seats in the FF Lower have partly been removed for the safe standing but the pitch looks like a ploughed field.

[hibsforeurope]

Is something happening with the pitch in the close season? Joelle Murray put a picture of the stadium on her Instagram story this morning, presumably from the offices in the South Stand. You can see the seats in the FF Lower have partly been removed for the safe standing but the pitch looks like a ploughed field.

Just the usual summer renovations by the looks of the groundsman’s Twitter posts.

[overdrive]

Just the usual summer renovations by the looks of the groundsman’s Twitter posts.

Cheers.

[offshorehibby]

Is something happening with the pitch in the close season? Joelle Murray put a picture of the stadium on her Instagram story this morning, presumably from the offices in the South Stand. You can see the seats in the FF Lower have partly been removed for the safe standing but the pitch looks like a ploughed field.

I believe it has been. My mate was up to borrow something for Spartans last week and said the pitch had been dug up. I thought we had the new super duper pitch layed last yea.

[HibbyKeith]

I believe it has been. My mate was up to borrow something for Spartans last week and said the pitch had been dug up. I thought we had the new super duper pitch layed last yea.It did. They strip off the top layer and put a fresh root zone, and seed down every season.

The pitch is hybrid, and the stripping back of the top layer doesn't affect the synthetic strands of grass. They are already beded in, and the new seed will take root to the base layers.

Head ground keeper Stevie has regular updates of the pitch throughout the season. There is a bit more details on his twitter. He's worth a wee follow.

https://twitter.com/sthomas1987?s=09


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[cabbageandribs1875]

we've decided to buy Livi's pitch instead :greengrin

https://scontent.fman1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/444165314_858639942968636_457808037224354622_n.jpg ?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=BBwC_LjUys8Q7kNvgFZNwJo&_nc_ht=scontent.fman1-1.fna&oh=00_AYB3hmtLayVXPM9ceOTH-FbGOrUaLV_V_WlEpc2TQ3Wpeg&oe=665A6D9B

https://scontent.fman1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/445804948_858639939635303_4370725937349988842_n.jp g?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=l4b14rkV_fwQ7kNvgFNYDd7&_nc_ht=scontent.fman1-1.fna&oh=00_AYDqhnuc7jXfI9rrZp-I54YhQYZWpPXepmyszzQE58Kx8g&oe=665A909C

[BILLYHIBS]

Scottish Premiership clubs have voted in favour of phasing out plastic pitches in the next two years

Hibs Observer

[GloryGlory]

Scottish Premiership clubs have voted in favour of phasing out plastic pitches in the next two years

Hibs Observer

https://x.com/scotsunsport/status/1796520437800681562

Just waiting for the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the clubs with artificial pitches! :greengrin

[.Sean.]

About time.

Said it before I don’t care how snobby it sounds, if you can’t afford a top class grass surface and need your income subsidised by students paying to play on your plastic pitch at night, you shouldn’t be in the top PROFESSIONAL league

No doubt those in charge at clubs in the Seaside leagues with teams of attendances that average in the low hundreds which are run like glorified bowling clubs will be up in arms though 😂😂

[SHODAN]

Excellent news.

[cabbageandribs1875]

bit of a dilemma for Livingston now

and Raith Rovers,Falkirk

cost a lot of money no doubt

[JohnM1875]

Chat is there were 9 that voted for the ban, so just made it through. Wonder who voted against it? Were Livi given a vote seeing as they were a premier league team this season?

[McD]

Chat is there were 9 that voted for the ban, so just made it through. Wonder who voted against it? Were Livi given a vote seeing as they were a premier league team this season?



When the covid season hit, was there not some chat around this, that the bottom club’s license (may not be the word used) technically wasn’t removed until something like 30/6, and as such they voted as they wished on any vote taking place, even though they wouldn’t be in the league, and the upcoming team got no input to anything happening before they were officially granted a license?