Eaststandee Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Hopefully we'll never have to see a top flight game on a plastic pitch ever again. -8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post PSJ.84 Posted March 9 Popular Post Share Posted March 9 Is it just me who doesn’t really care either way? 30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post LIVIFOREVER Posted March 9 Popular Post Share Posted March 9 (edited) 20 minutes ago, PSJ.84 said: Is it just me who doesn’t really care either way? Nope. Not just saying it because we've got one, didn't bother me when we were in the lower leagues playing Airdrie, East Fife, Stenny etc on theirs, and there's a hell of a lot more teams got them now. Which brings us to how this affects all the lower league teams that have these pitches for a sound financial reason, and how that would affect them getting promoted, then relegated back down again, stinks of more self preservation for top flight teams with plenty money, fucking over smaller clubs like the 10,000 seater stadiums patter. Be interesting to see how Killie vote though, after having one for so long. Would be a tad hypocritical of them voting against them just because they're changing to a grass pitch. Edited March 9 by LIVIFOREVER 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10menwent2mow Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 They've never really bothered me that much. A decent artificial surface is much better to play on than a terrible grass one. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Add me to those that dont care. Theyre a bit shite but then you look at the pitches at Dens and McDiarmid and wonder why anyone thinks those bobbly bogs are helping "good football" get played. Its just football snobbery and generally pushed by Old Firm fans who have just lost on one of the pitches, or clubs who underperform compared to smaller clubs with plastic pitches and want to try and gain some advantages over them. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houston_bud Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) I dunno, there's something I like about a grass pitch. I like how a grass pitch will change with the season, and will vary from team to team. A good grass pitch just looks much better too. I'm not particularly strident and I think there are more pressing issues to deal with in Scottish football, but I would prefer to have all grass pitches. Possibly just being a bit nostalgic. Edit: I agree with the point about football snobbery. Edited March 9 by houston_bud 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) These pitches help participation by giving more kids an opportunity to play. Firmly against this moronic bullshit idea of banning them. Edited Tuesday at 07:24 by DA Baracus 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houston_bud Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 6 minutes ago, DA Baracus said: These pitches help participation bu giving more kids an opportunity to play. Firmly against this moronic bullshit idea of banning them. Does a couple of top flight teams having an artificial pitch give kids more opportunities to play? Most high schools have them as well as councils having ones. I'm all for having more and widening access, but I don't think there'd be a noticeable drop in kids' participation if Kilmarnock and Livingston had to switch to grass pitches. Maybe I'm wrong. I was surprised to hear that only one highland league club has an artificial pitch. I'd have thought a lot of these clubs would've done well from being able to rent out their pitches. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 25 minutes ago, houston_bud said: Does a couple of top flight teams having an artificial pitch give kids more opportunities to play? Yes 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris1883 Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) My view is that unless you have the resources to maintain a top-level grass pitch, you should have a top level artificial surface. I believe that every premier team should have a grass pitch*, but championship down it should be an option. I do feel that by the time you get to the lower leagues, synthetic should be more-or-less the norm in Scotland... simply because the weather and consistency. In terms of maintaining grass pitches, there has to be ways of having a co-op on equipment - like football pitch 'grow lights' and pitch heating tunnels. Another big positive over plastic pitches - they are generally used for training (saving clubs money), and rented out to community groups (making money). So banning them completely will have a pretty sizable financial impact on clubs. * I feel that there needs to be some sort of fund in place to support teams with lower funds to transition to grass if required (ie. the clubs synthetic surface is repurposed to another club/ community organisation, and the SPL helps with a grant for a 'proper' pitch) Edited March 9 by chris1883 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennett Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 I've watched a few BBC Scotland Friday night games where the artificial pitches look pretty decent and don't seem to affect the play. The two Premiership artificial pitches are horrible to look at and obviously affect play. I was for banning them but I'd be willing to accept them if they were of an acceptable standard. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer (Raconteur) Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 32 minutes ago, houston_bud said: Does a couple of top flight teams having an artificial pitch give kids more opportunities to play? In respect of Livingston, yes. There is an Astro pitch behind the stadium but the quality is not good, allowing youngsters to play on a top surface outwith club use optimises the use of the stadium. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiviLion Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 How much are the SPFL offering in compensation to cover the cost of anyone needing to change their pitch, along with additional maintenance costs and lost income from being able to rent it out? Anyone who actually thinks plastic pitches make any difference is being deliberately stupid 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gannonball Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 3 minutes ago, bennett said: I've watched a few BBC Scotland Friday night games where the artificial pitches look pretty decent and don't seem to affect the play. The two Premiership artificial pitches are horrible to look at and obviously affect play. I was for banning them but I'd be willing to accept them if they were of an acceptable standard. This is my take also. There will obviously be regulations over the type plastic pitch but Livi's one especially is an abomination on the eyes, even worse up close. I was watching Airdrie's cup game with Hearts and it was miles better. Personally I would be happy with a halfway house that yes they are allowed but with stricter providers etc. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welldaft Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Ban them for the top flight. Anyone telling me that football is enhanced on Livi pitch is having a laugh. Of course grass pitches can be poor, but that is more down to Scottish weather and undersoil heating. For me it is about the cost of maintenance. A grass pitch is many multiples more expensive. We spent a £1m+ on the pitch. So what. Well it meant that everyone’s teams could come and play as good football as they are capable of. That is also a £1m that we did not have to pay for players hence why our budget was heavily reduced this season. Not fit for top flight football. Get them in the bin. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Just now, welldaft said: Ban them for the top flight. Anyone telling me that football is enhanced on Livi pitch is having a laugh. Of course grass pitches can be poor, but that is more down to Scottish weather and undersoil heating. If youre voting to ban anything but grass pitches in the top flight then youre advocating for your own club to get relegated. Technically Celtic, Hearts, Kilmarnock, Livingston, Motherwell, and Rangers all have "artificial" pitches. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJF Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) I think in an ideal world everyone would be playing on a decent grass surface, but we also need to appreciate that it’s hard to achieve and maintain a decent grass surface. Even a club like Celtic have a horrendous grass pitch at the moment. There are clear cost saving benefits to having an artificial pitch as well as opening it up to allow more people to use it. The football may be different but not to the extent that it is disadvantageous to the away side much, in my opinion. Edited March 9 by AJF 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
energyzone Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 10 minutes ago, bennett said: I've watched a few BBC Scotland Friday night games where the artificial pitches look pretty decent and don't seem to affect the play. The two Premiership artificial pitches are horrible to look at and obviously affect play. I was for banning them but I'd be willing to accept them if they were of an acceptable standard. Kilmarnock's pitch looks much better in person than it does on TV, possibly due to the position of the main TV camera in relation to the sun. I agree that we would prefer a grass pitch but I don't think artificial pitches are as big a deal as a lot of people make out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 14 minutes ago, chris1883 said: I feel that there needs to be some sort of fund in place to support teams with lower funds to transition to grass if required (ie. the clubs synthetic surface is repurposed to another club/ community organisation, and the SPL helps with a grant for a 'proper' pitch) Fairly sure the average price for a hybrid pitch, which seems the best option, is between £1m and £2m simply for fitting, then increased maintenance costs including a major one every Summer. How much would you want in a "pot" to help, considering we could have 2 teams needing help every Summer for a few years? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby_Doo Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 If you think this has anything to do with pitches then you're not paying attention. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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