Plastic Pitches

[Gary67]

25% of the league will have a plastic pitch for the new season.
With Falkirk and Livingston getting promoted that's three of varying degrees of quality that we will need to play between 4 and 6 games on.
Falkirk's to be fair is a decent surface and they can play good football on it, Live are putting down a new one for next season but Killie's abomination will remain.
Amateur hour that looks awful when games are covered on TV, especially when accompanied by the empty stands at Livvy & Killie.
Thankfully from 2026/27 they are to be banned.

 

[Millsy]

25% of the league will have a plastic pitch for the new season.
With Falkirk and Livingston getting promoted that's three of varying degrees of quality that we will need to play between 4 and 6 games on.
Falkirk's to be fair is a decent surface and they can play good football on it, Live are putting down a new one for next season but Killie's abomination will remain.
Amateur hour that looks awful when games are covered on TV, especially when accompanied by the empty stands at Livvy & Killie.
Thankfully from 2026/27 they are to be banned.

''Thankfully from 2026/27 they are to be banned .'' Hmmm ? Well, unfortunately , it is expected that Falkirk ( perhaps others too ) are going to appeal this decision .

Being Scottish football , I would not hold out too much hope that the correct decision will be forthcoming . I confidently expect that the worst possible outcome will be the favourite to be implemented , namely that Plastic Pitches, regardless of quality (? ) , will be acceptable until ....whenever !
The fact that Scottish Football will continue to be seen by the World at large as a prehistoric backwater , where dangerous , unsightly surfaces are allowed to blight 'The Beautiful Game ' , where the authorities turn a Nelson Eye to persistent acts of criminality , like throwing broken glass on to a pitch , attacking staff of visiting teams , not to mention the Hate-Crime of Sectarian Chanting/Singing /TFO displays etc... going unpunished for decades ....

HH

 

[Bridie Bhoy]

As most of us will concede, plastic pitches have a place in Scotland. They are excellent for community use and can be played on 7 days a week without any problem. Correct maintenance is actually harder, time consuming and more costly than grass pitches. But this is more than covered by being a revenue generator as they can hire it out to multiple teams and they can be to a much higher standard than normal pitches. I know most about the pitch Forfar Athletic have and it is properly maintained. It gets used by them, their youth sides, Farmington Ladies, boys clubs, hockey sides, etc, and everyone raves about how nice a surface it is to play on. Yes, it does have a higher bounce, but they are more cushioned these days which also reduces the damage they do to knees playing on them over an extended period.

Also, Forfar used to have so many postponements every winter and often never played a home game from about Xmas into late February, then had to face 2 matches a week crammed into the end of season which is very tough on part-time players. Many other clubs in the lower leagues suffered from similar problems due to frozen pitches. So these artificial pitches often have much better playing surfaces for about 10 months a year than the old grass pitches.

But that should be the level they are used at and not in the top tier. I know other countries with harsh winters also allow them for their top tier clubs, but this should not be the case for full time clubs in Scotland. And if they are still being allowed then they should be forced to prepare them correctly before each half rather than the deliberate policies these clubs use where they refuse to water and condition them correctly as they know it is an advantage to them and makes playing decent watchable football much, much harder. If they cannot use them properly then they should be punished and not allowed to use them at all - if that means them suffering because the refuse to water the pitch before each half as the manufacturer tells them they have to then that is tough shit on them.

 

[Sean Tbl Tbl]

As most of us will concede, plastic pitches have a place in Scotland. They are excellent for community use and can be played on 7 days a week without any problem. Correct maintenance is actually harder, time consuming and more costly than grass pitches. But this is more than covered by being a revenue generator as they can hire it out to multiple teams and they can be to a much higher standard than normal pitches. I know most about the pitch Forfar Athletic have and it is properly maintained. It gets used by them, their youth sides, Farmington Ladies, boys clubs, hockey sides, etc, and everyone raves about how nice a surface it is to play on. Yes, it does have a higher bounce, but they are more cushioned these days which also reduces the damage they do to knees playing on them over an extended period.

Also, Forfar used to have so many postponements every winter and often never played a home game from about Xmas into late February, then had to face 2 matches a week crammed into the end of season which is very tough on part-time players. Many other clubs in the lower leagues suffered from similar problems due to frozen pitches. So these artificial pitches often have much better playing surfaces for about 10 months a year than the old grass pitches.

But that should be the level they are used at and not in the top tier. I know other countries with harsh winters also allow them for their top tier clubs, but this should not be the case for full time clubs in Scotland. And if they are still being allowed then they should be forced to prepare them correctly before each half rather than the deliberate policies these clubs use where they refuse to water and condition them correctly as they know it is an advantage to them and makes playing decent watchable football much, much harder. If they cannot use them properly then they should be punished and not allowed to use them at all - if that means them suffering because the refuse to water the pitch before each half as the manufacturer tells them they have to then that is tough shit on them.

Cdny believe it when that wee Drug Dealing Bastard Martinjails Pub team got promoted last ngt!..Didny realise they were laying a new pitch but if they are they MUST be confident Falkirk il win their appeal & they 2 will be allowed tae keep their new Axminster!!..At least Killies pitch is gone by nxt Season & Falkirk or Livvie will DEFO go doon, hopefully the Latter..Can't stand that wee Slabberin Hun Bastard Midget!!

 

[boab1916]

Cdny believe it when that wee Drug Dealing Bastard Martinjails Pub team got promoted last ngt!..Didny realise they were laying a new pitch but if they are they MUST be confident Falkirk il win their appeal & they 2 will be allowed tae keep their new Axminster!!..At least Killies pitch is gone by nxt Season & Falkirk or Livvie will DEFO go doon, hopefully the Latter..Can't stand that wee Slabberin Hun Bastard Midget!!

 

[Yorkshire_Bhoy]

Asked my mate if he preferred grass or synthetic…

“Just the weed for me, I’m not touching that spice!” was his reply!