Just read on the Oatcake that the Premier League has decided (finally) that all pitches are to be the same size. As there is so much billshoot on there I thought I'd check it out. Rule K.21. Of the Premier League handbook for this season states: Unless otherwise permitted by the Board, in League Matches the length of the pitch shall be 105 metres and it's breadth 68 metres. It goes on to state that permission shall only be granted for different dimensions if it is impossible to comply with the rule. Interestingly these dimensions are exactly the same as those required by UEFA for their competitions, which means the pitch will be the same as the ones we had for the Europa League last season. That pitch was bigger than the one we usually play on, but it didn't cause any noticeable issues as far as I was concerned. It also means that we wont have to play on vast expanses that we're not used to. I can't decide whether this is a good thing for us or not...
Smit I heard (something) about this earlier on S S News.. think it was Scudamore the FA etc?? Didn't catch all of it so thanks for posting this! I do remember some fans, Gooners we're up in arms about "OUR SMALL PITCH" TBH the difference between the Europa and our League games, it did'nt seem to be that much smaller to me... What the heck Smit, it's ONE less thing for other fans to whinge about, IF and or WHEN we beat them.
I've thought for a while our pitch should be bigger, it was good having it narrower for throws, but they're rarely effective anymore, and as you say Smit, if the players get used to playing on the same size pitch, they shouldn't end up getting lost on a bigger pitch at away matches, could well be a reason we're so poor away (even though last season we seemed better away than at home for periods.)
I'm sort of hoping that this will be the nail in the coffin for Rory and his long throws. But someone else will probably have other ideas!
