Plastic Pitches Dilemma

[Chicken Soup]

The costs of a playing surface fit for this level of football should be compulsory in any club’s budget planning, and I’d expect fans to hold their own clubs to account on that.

Why are so many fans seemingly happy to pay the significant fees associated with following a championship club, to watch their team play on plastic every weekend? 

[baba douche]

The next one will be that Championship teams have to pay for their own VAR installation by March before promotion, which means that we'd all be scrambling to justify the cost without (probably) guaranteeing actually needing it.

I have sympathy with Falkirk on this, as they were the main victims of previous rules - it's a disgrace that they weren't allowed promotion. Thistle also had to half bankrupt ourselves to get the seats in place to guarantee promotion.

Then of course, they change the rules for a highland club...

It's a actually embarrassing how blatantly they try to pull up the ladder behind themselves.

[Wacky]

9 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

I believe you need to apply to the SPFL to groundshare, and it wouldn't be guaranteed.

It’ll only happen if the bigot bros allow it. 

[LatapyBairn.]

41 minutes ago, baba douche said:

The next one will be that Championship teams have to pay for their own VAR installation by March before promotion, which means that we'd all be scrambling to justify the cost without (probably) guaranteeing actually needing it.

I have sympathy with Falkirk on this, as they were the main victims of previous rules - it's a disgrace that they weren't allowed promotion. Thistle also had to half bankrupt ourselves to get the seats in place to guarantee promotion.

Then of course, they change the rules for a highland club...

It's an actually embarrassing how blatantly they try to pull up the ladder behind themselves.

Does have a feeling of deja vu for us Falkirk fans of that era but I’m aware we weren’t the only club that suffered one way or another at that time, changing the rules only a season after us having been denied promotion (again!) for Inverness was a bit sickening but in hindsight two wrongs don’t make a right so at least common sense eventually prevailed. The ill thought through proposals banning 4g pitches aren’t much better and although a club winning the league could at a push probably find a way to install a grass pitch in the event of promotion far easier than they could build a whole new stadium it is money that could and should be far better spent elsewhere, purely from our own point of view we are in the middle of trying to fund and reinstate our youth academy to the level it was running at previously and a massive part of that business model centred around using the 4G pitch which was only newly fitted less than a year ago, this ruling will most likely see that plan shelved or delayed. There’s just been no thought , compromise or fact finding put into this decision and as you say it draws direct comparisons to the ridiculous 10000 seated stadia rule. 

Edited June 2 by LatapyBairn.

[DiegoDiego]

13 hours ago, moses1924 said:

Airdrie haven't been in the top flight for 32 years so i'm in no rush to tear up the pitch on the basis we might go up. Presumably if a team with a plastic pitch does go up a grass pitch could be laid over the close season with some type of ground share arrangement for the first month of the season if needed? 

Would the arrangements not be the same as if a club had, I dunno, forgotten to order seats for their new main stand?

[Sergeant Wilson]

54 minutes ago, baba douche said:

have sympathy with Falkirk on this, as they were the main victims of previous rules - it's a disgrace that they weren't allowed promotion

No, it wasnt. They spent money on players and tried to blag their way in by claiming to have a suitable ground share, when they hadn't.

[Mybitchunderprotest]

21 hours ago, Shandon Par said:

Ban grass pitches from The Championship to liven it up.

I'd love this, seeing relegated clubs having to rip up the turf and install astro would be fucking hilarious and be a real GIRFUY to the ones who voted in favour of the ridiculous notion that we need real grass pitches in this country in the middle of our wet/winter months.

1 hour ago, Chicken Soup said:

 

Why are so many fans seemingly happy to pay the significant fees associated with following a championship club, to watch their team play on plastic every weekend? 

Because the ones I've seen in the Championship are actually playing bloody good football on them. 

[LatapyBairn.]

1 hour ago, Chicken Soup said:

The costs of a playing surface fit for this level of football should be compulsory in any club’s budget planning, and I’d expect fans to hold their own clubs to account on that.

Why are so many fans seemingly happy to pay the significant fees associated with following a championship club, to watch their team play on plastic every weekend? 

Probably because games tend to actually go ahead on the scheduled dates and times, it’s actually possible to play attractive football and pass the ball on these pitches through the winter months as opposed to say attempting to play anything resembling football on the cow fields at Dundee or Motherwell. 

Edited June 2 by LatapyBairn.

[Chicken Soup]

10 minutes ago, Mybitchunderprotest said:

Because the ones I've seen in the Championship are actually playing bloody good football on them. 

 

The same attractive football would be a better spectacle if played on a quality grass pitch though, you are able to demand both.
 

It’s a shame fans of these clubs would rather protect their own current setup than push for a higher quality product for themselves, and by extension, everyone. 

[cb_diamond]

1 hour ago, baba douche said:

 

I have sympathy with Falkirk on this, as they were the main victims of previous rules - it's a disgrace that they weren't allowed promotion. Thistle also had to half bankrupt ourselves to get the seats in place to guarantee promotion.

 

Not to try and "elevenarife" things here, but the 10k seats fiasco was the core thing that killed us in the early 2000s.

[LatapyBairn.]

25 minutes ago, Chicken Soup said:

The same attractive football would be a better spectacle if played on a quality grass pitch though, you are able to demand both.
 

It’s a shame fans of these clubs would rather protect their own current setup than push for a higher quality product for themselves, and by extension, everyone. 

The problem is there are possibly only 3 “quality” grass pitches throughout the winter months in Scotland, most of the others are not conducive to playing passing football. Unless adequately funded the best way to pay for and produce a higher quality product across the board is the use of top end 4g pitches that remain consistent throughout the year where needed, either that or we switch to summer football,  its simply isn’t up for debate when you look at the mess most of our grass playing surfaces become in the winter months. Champions league semi finals are played on 4g surfaces, to suggest good football can’t be played on this surface just comes down to being ignorant of the facts. 

Edited June 2 by LatapyBairn.

[Chicken Soup]

15 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

The problem is there are possibly only 3 “quality” grass pitches throughout the winter months in Scotland, most of the others are not conducive to playing passing football. Unless adequately funded the best way to pay for and produce a higher quality product across the board is the use of top end 4g pitches that remain consistent throughout the year where needed, either that or we switch to summer football,  its simply isn’t up for debate when you look at the mess most of our grass playing surfaces become in the winter months. Champions league semi finals are played on 4g surfaces, to suggest good football can’t be played on this surface just comes down to being ignorant of the facts. 

Although Uefa rules state the final must be played on natural turf. Why would that be? 
 

I also don’t expect to be watching many games at the Euros this summer on artificial turf. Yet if I choose to watch my team play away from home in the Scottish Championship, I could be paying up to £26 to watch them play on plastic.
 

With the level of funding available at this level of football, all clubs are capable of maintaining a quality grass pitch. If fans of those clubs, such as yourself, would rather use artificial than pressure the club to maintain a good standard of grass, that’s your decision to make. However, I doubt I’ll be the only one hoping this decision forces those clubs to override that. Premium competitions are primarily played on grass for a reason,  and the Championship should aspire to give an offering befitting the cost of admission. 

[stevoraith]

1 hour ago, cb_diamond said:

Not to try and "elevenarife" things here, but the 10k seats fiasco was the core thing that killed us in the early 2000s.

Falkirk were definitely hard-done-by when they were denied promotion for not having an arbitrary number of seats, but you could (and I will) argue that they were only in the position to win the league and be denied promotion because they chose not to spend their money on upgrading their stadium and spent it on players instead, and the real losers were the teams who went ahead and built pointlessly big stadia.

 

It was nonsense that they didn't get up, but the real losers were the teams who spent the money to build the stadiums to the detriment of their playing budget and ended up kicking about the lower leagues with massive but 75% empty stadiums.

[Disco Duck]

Has anyone been able to come up with a positive of playing on grass v artificial yet?

[Disco Duck]

2 hours ago, Chicken Soup said:

The costs of a playing surface fit for this level of football should be compulsory in any club’s budget planning, and I’d expect fans to hold their own clubs to account on that.

Why are so many fans seemingly happy to pay the significant fees associated with following a championship club, to watch their team play on plastic every weekend? 

And I think having a ground that offers basic shelter from the elements, and doesn’t have a main stand that is a rickety firetrap with no legroom to sit in and is fit for the 20th century let alone the 21st, should be a compulsory part of budget planning.

But Morton are still stinking up Scottish football, so here we are.

[LatapyBairn.]

31 minutes ago, Chicken Soup said:

Although Uefa rules state the final must be played on natural turf. Why would that be? 
 

I also don’t expect to be watching many games at the Euros this summer on artificial turf. Yet if I choose to watch my team play away from home in the Scottish Championship, I could be paying up to £26 to watch them play on plastic.
 

With the level of funding available at this level of football, all clubs are capable of maintaining a quality grass pitch. If fans of those clubs, such as yourself, would rather use artificial than pressure the club to maintain a good standard of grass, that’s your decision to make. However, I doubt I’ll be the only one hoping this decision forces those clubs to override that. Premium competitions are primarily played on grass for a reason,  and the Championship should aspire to give an offering befitting the cost of admission. 

Sorry but I completely disagree, I’ve sat through to many games that have been completely spoiled (or cancelled altogether!) due to poor quality grass pitches (one game in particular last season still ticks in my head!) in the Scottish winters, the 4g technology now available solves that problem and should be embraced as it is by every other country in our hemisphere playing winter football. It does seem we are determined to drive our game back into the dark ages purely based on ignorance as opposed to moving with the times however. 

Edited June 2 by LatapyBairn.

[Chicken Soup]

9 minutes ago, Disco Duck said:

And I think having a ground that offers basic shelter from the elements, and doesn’t have a main stand that is a rickety firetrap with no legroom to sit in and is fit for the 20th century let alone the 21st, should be a compulsory part of budget planning.

But Morton are still stinking up Scottish football, so here we are.

You actually raise a good example, similar to the surface debate, where it would be beneficial to see fans pressure their clubs to provide as good an offering as possible for away fans. If we all did so, the overall fan experience would improve for everyone. 

Until then, I hope a horde of seagulls empties its guts on your lot any time you come to town for a look at our lush playing surface. Good to know your bitterness hasn’t mellowed during your five year absence. 

[Mediocre Pundit]

43 minutes ago, Disco Duck said:

Has anyone been able to come up with a positive of playing on grass v artificial yet?

It pisses off Falkirk fans. 

[Mediocre Pundit]

Being more serious, I expect most people prefer a good grass surface to plastic, but also prefer plastic to a bad grass surface. So for the best football the authorities should demand clubs maintain a good grass surface. If that means some clubs need to have a slightly smaller playing budget then that’s fine. 

Edited June 2 by Mediocre Pundit

[Chicken Soup]

31 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Sorry but I completely disagree, I’ve sat through to many games that have been completely spoiled (or cancelled altogether!) due to poor quality grass pitches (one game in particular last season still ticks in my head!) in the Scottish winters, the 4g technology now available solves that problem and should be embraced as it is by every other country in our hemisphere playing winter football. It does seem we are determined to drive our game back into the dark ages purely based on ignorance as opposed to moving with the times however. 

Agree on the problem of poor quality grass, but disagree on the solution. You view artificial as a superior alternative, I see it as a cheaper and inferior option, compared with proper investment in, and maintenance of the grass. Let’s see if anything happens following the rule change.