Are artificial pitches a problem for the home team?

[Lancashirearab]

Do teams with artificial pitches pick up more injuries than teams with grass pitches? Jim Goodwin's worries about Moult playing on an artificial surface would suggest that there are more risks involved in playing on them. If your home pitch is artificial,  that would suggest that your squad are going to be at more risk. 

Or is it just the case that United have had a fear of artificial pitches for many seasons now? We seem to try and build in excuses in our preparations for these matches.

[Ebanda's Handyman Services]

I think it depends on how well the artificial pitch is maintained. 

I've played on some really good ones (Stark's Park) and some really bad ones (Ochilview) and some in between. 

Came off the bad ones feeling like I'd been running and turning on a hard surface for the duration of my game which isn't good for the old knees and ankles.

Saying that, our injury list at the Rovers is often horrific so there may be something in it...

[itzdrk]

Most teams train on an artificial surface regardless of what their matchday pitch is so usually it's pure pish when a manager says this.  

Think Dundee United train on grass at St Andrews? 

[TheScarf]

The Caley train on both but mostly grass at Fort George. 

[Broken Algorithms]

34 minutes ago, Ebanda's Handyman Services said:

I think it depends on how well the artificial pitch is maintained. 

I've played on some really good ones (Stark's Park) and some really bad ones (Ochilview) and some in between. 

Came off the bad ones feeling like I'd been running and turning on a hard surface for the duration of my game which isn't good for the old knees and ankles.

Saying that, our injury list at the Rovers is often horrific so there may be something in it...

Our horrendous injuries have been going on before the artificial turf went down. Even in our team right now our two longer term chronic injuries aren't down to it. 

Previously before there were undoubtedly some surfaces that were well beyond their 'best before' date. Stenhousemuir and Forfar are two that spring to mind. I've no idea if they've changed since we last played. But in most instances, clubs are getting better pitches nowadays. Certain with ours, it's opened up Stark's to the community while also solving a huge long term issue with drainage. We could've to head the best ground staff in the country and still encountered a pitch looking like this each winter:

There's definitely an unfounded elitism over their use. You'll get folk bleating on about them after defeats but most of the time there's next to no difference on the outcome of the game. I'm delighted we've got one and hope we keep it up to date - I've yet to see any complaints about ours. 

Incidentally, this season is probably the most grass pitches we've had at this level in a good while.

[HoBNob]

12 minutes ago, itzdrk said:

Most teams train on an artificial surface regardless of what their matchday pitch is so usually it's pure pish when a manager says this.  

Think Dundee United train on grass at St Andrews? 

Aye, but training and a match are a different intensity, doing drills running around cones is different from a boy trying to turn you inside out etc. 

I'm diffy a couple of ACLs and plastic pitches give me the fear when I'm on them.

[Diamonds are Forever]

It's nonsense. Part of the reason is that there is no set standard of a plastic or a grass pitch. Are we using 10 year old plastic pitches as the standard? Or new ones like Airdrie or Falkirk? Are we using Stair Park in December as the grass pitch? Or Celtic Park in August? There is such a wide variety across both that you can't generalise.

It's also subject to confirmation bias, a player does their ACL in a plastic pitch and the pitch gets blamed, they get injured on a grass pitch and it's just luck. As mentioned, I think it's a kind of elitism from the 'football should be played on grass' crowd.

[Diamonds are Forever]

12 minutes ago, HoBNob said:

Aye, but training and a match are a different intensity, doing drills running around cones is different from a boy trying to turn you inside out etc. 

I'm diffy a couple of ACLs and plastic pitches give me the fear when I'm on them.

 

I did my ACL on a grass pitch with no contact from anyone else, at no point did anyone blame the (dreadful) grass pitch. If it had been on plastic I'm certain people would have brought it up. Most injuries are just chance but when people already have an idea in their head about plastic pitches I think they link things which probably aren't linked.

[Bairnardo]

Incidence of football injuries sustained on artificial turf compared to grass and other playing surfaces: a systematic review and meta-analysis - eClinicalMedicine (thelancet.com)

 

Theres some other stuff available online from Sweden that the British Medical Journal done, none of them show anything approaching conclusive evidence that theres an issue. Some studies have suggested that theres a slight increase in low severity ankle and foot injury but again, nothing conclusive. 

Anyone who has an issue with them, has that issue due to their own biases. Thats fine. You have the right not to like them, but folk spouting off about how they are dangerous need to understand that they are talking shite. 

[The Moonster]

It's a myth that artificial pitches cause more injury. Players can say they don't like playing on it, and may manufacture "knocks and niggles" so they avoid it but there's not really any evidence to suggest you are more likely to be injured on plastic. 

[Wardy]

Pretty sure Vaughan did one of his ACL’s up at Brechin on  a grass pitch. 

[Dundee Hibernian]

In time, studies may prove the bigger danger with artificial surfaces isn't injuries but cancer.

[Bairnardo]

1 minute ago, Dundee Hibernian said:

In time, studies may prove the bigger danger with artificial surfaces isn't injuries but cancer.

Aye the rubber crumb is being banned sometime soon im sure

[callum-ayr]

27 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

The Caley train on both but mostly grass at Fort George. 

Grass must be bad for the ICT chocolate legs since there always seems to be about 7 injured at any given time.

[Broken Algorithms]

Fwiw, I've seen various players do ACLs on a mix of pitches. People completely overlook that in genetic terms there are some people who are more likely to get injured. I've seen Lewis Vaughan do his ACL in three games on top of the most recent (in training on our plastic pitch) and two of those were on grass pitches. The one up at Brechin was on a tattie field pitch in the middle of January.

I'd also be inclined to argue that since the mid 2000s we've seen far more technical players come through Scottish football which has coincided with their use. 

[TheScarf]

Just now, callum-ayr said:

Grass must be bad for the ICT chocolate legs since there always seems to be about 7 injured at any given time.

We can only sign permacrocks or young inexperienced guys.  Hence why we won't be troubling the Premiership for a while.

[callum-ayr]

Just now, TheScarf said:

We can only sign permacrocks or young inexperienced guys.  Hence why we won't be troubling the Premiership for a while.

Sounds disturbingly familiar.

[LeodhasXD]

In the last couple years I've switched to predominantly playing football on grass and if anything I've felt the games we play on grass are harder on my joints than astroturf these days. Give me a bowling green grass park but if it's full of rabbit holes and waterlogged I'd rather play on astro.

Edited July 26, 2023 by LeodhasXD

[oneteaminglasgow]

If we’re going for completely unsubstantiated pish, I prefer the “I’ve never seen a good game on Astro” argument. 

[HoBNob]

1 hour ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

 

I did my ACL on a grass pitch with no contact from anyone else, at no point did anyone blame the (dreadful) grass pitch. If it had been on plastic I'm certain people would have brought it up. Most injuries are just chance but when people already have an idea in their head about plastic pitches I think they link things which probably aren't linked.

Neither of my ACL injuries were due to a plastic pitch, so I'm not linking things.

I'm talking purely how I feel playing on them now, I feel there's a "slip" when playing on plastic that I don't get on grass, where when your foot is planted it can slide or slip for a bit which just causes havock with my knees. And while you do have very good plastic pitches, the standard ones seem to be lacking in shock absorbtion which is a shiter on the hips/knees.