The FL have announced that there are plans in place to seek opinions on their return. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17064905 Here is the survey for you to offer your opinions. Take this chance to have your say, as if the fans dont want it, it might not happen this once!! http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22ERJWUK6Y6 I am not opposed to it, as it does even the playing field (pardon the pun) and it can save the clubs a fair bit of money. But it would have to be a generic surface though out the league.
I remember when they were last tried out and they were awful. Things have improved no doubt with the latest technology, which could make them play more like a natural surface, but no way would I want to go back to the old style ones. It will only become a level playing field Dan if every club has the same one. Taking promotion and relegation into account means that every club in the country that plays in the four or five divisions would have to invest in one. All grass or all synthetic is the only fair way forward.
Thats what i meant by the last line. If they are going to do it, it should be the same surface through out the FL.
Well England had to play on one in Russia once didnt they?? So I guess it means it up to the respective organisations.
Didn't like them back then & still don't like them - even though the latest ones are an improvement on the older version. Not, obviously, that I play on them anymore but my son does and he doesn't like them. My local HFL club have a training facility where it's used - and it's open to public use as well. Two regular comments on them are 1) they're hopeless in the wet and 2) being a harder surface, they cause more muscle and joint injuries than the real stuff. Apart from that, I guess I'm a traditionalist and I don't see the need for the change. At the very top level, the game has become plastic enough anyway without having to play on the damned stuff too.
We've had a few baldes over the years - STM is probably my favourite But you're, it is simple - it has to be played on real grass. End of.
I doubt it - there is a consultation process going on. If this was his baby, he'd simply be riding roughshod over everyone's wishes like he normally does.
True, let's hope it doesn't go through though. Artificial is ok for 5-a-side footy and some other sports, but as for 11-a-side league games, just the thought of it makes my stomach turn.
Aren't Sarries going to be playing on an artifical pitch if they ever get the go ahead for their stadium? As a side thought, I wonder just how much they have had to pay us this season?
With all this climate change lark and drought in East Anglia, we have to make do with playing on impacted mud or sand pitches in the near future. ..........Oh hang on, we used to do that in the 50's and 60's along with the occasional straw covered pitch - usually against Rotherham. Plus ҫa change....
We spend 15 years trying to get Saracens off of our grass, and the FL chooses the year we look set to finally get rid of them and lay a new grass pitch to have this discussion.
Plastic pitches? - Just the mention of the words is enough to give me nightmares of "them", it goes together with "away fans ban"...yuk, yuk, yuk
As long as the new pitches are as near to the real thing as they can get, I am all for it! If they do come in, I would suggest that a club has to have either under-soil heating OR a plastic pitch. I assume the big idea here is to avoid postponements due to weather. I think it should then be down to the club to make sure their pitch is in a playable state all-year round! Maybe once the pitches are sorted they will consider a winter break, but at the moment I don't think it's feasible. At the moemnt, you could have a winter break of a couple of weeks then as soon as they come back the weather could turn and the pitched be uplayable!
Doesn't one of the Swiss sides in Europe have one? Possibly Young Boys Berne, as I think Spurs had to play there.
Initial reaction was one if indignant disgust, and dreadful memories of the nightmare pitches at QPR and Luton. However, there are a few benefits; the artificial turf these days is excellent, and i've even played a few 11 a side games without really noticing the difference except you can't really blame a bobble for miscontrolling the ball (you can even slide tackle without ripping all the skin off you leg!). It has been used excellently in other sports such as Rugby and Gridiron where (and don't quote me on this) but I believe they claim to have reduced injuries. I can't see how everyone has to have the same type of pitch for it to be fair, is it fair for Arsenal with their pristine turf at the Emirates to have to come to a rutted sand pit at Vicarage road? It would also mean that clubs could host other sports, increase revenue and not have to worry about the state of the pitch (Saracens i'm talking about you here.) I still can't shake the feeling that football should be played on real grass anf nothing else, but I'm not sure if thats purely because I'm falling into the "it was better in my day" mindset and as such have become resistant to change.
