gaz7 Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 I have thought this for a while.why as a small community club do we not have one.the only reason I hear is football should be played on grass. Well I agree if you are a top club in the premiership with millions of pounds to enable the upkeep but we are not! It would give us an advantage over other teams and also make our players better footballers as training on the same flat and consistent surface day in day out would imo greatly improve them. It is no coincidence that accies are getting plaudits from all and sundry for their brand of football when they have young fast technically sound footballers who have honed their skills day in day out for years on same surface. Lets do it now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 1420655593[/url]' post='428474']I have thought this for a while.why as a small community club do we not have one.the only reason I hear is football should be played on grass. Well I agree if you are a top club in the premiership with millions of pounds to enable the upkeep but we are not! It would give us an advantage over other teams and also make our players better footballers as training on the same flat and consistent surface day in day out would imo greatly improve them. It is no coincidence that accies are getting plaudits from all and sundry for their brand of football when they have young fast technically sound footballers who have honed their skills day in day out for years on same surface. Lets do it now! Need to deal with the slope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaz7 Posted January 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Slope would not be a problem as im quite sure the people that install them have come across various states of ground. Also every team from 1st to youths could be playing on it with maybe one game on before and one after the 1st team game on a saturday.im sure some would come in earlier or stay later to watch the youths thus enhancing the matchday experience for fans and also meaning the young well boys who would be playing for instance against say celtic would get some support. As I say wins everywher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 It is no coincidence that accies are getting plaudits from all and sundry for their brand of football when they have young fast technically sound footballers who have honed their skills day in day out for years on same surface. Are you sure it's not? What about all the other teams with artificial pitches who are playing considerably less well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Superwell Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Not for me, they should have no place in top flight football, As Gordon Strachan said recently, plastic surfaces are great for training the youths in terms of Technique and skill but that's it and football matches should always be played on grass. They also increase the risk of injury which has been evident to a few players at certain clubs that have played on them this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asdf1234 Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 1420655593[/url]' post='428474']I have thought this for a while.why as a small community club do we not have one.the only reason I hear is football should be played on grass. Well I agree if you are a top club in the premiership with millions of pounds to enable the upkeep but we are not! It would give us an advantage over other teams and also make our players better footballers as training on the same flat and consistent surface day in day out would imo greatly improve them. It is no coincidence that accies are getting plaudits from all and sundry for their brand of football when they have young fast technically sound footballers who have honed their skills day in day out for years on same surface. Lets do it now! Do you reckon that we could train on it aswell? That would be a big advantage aswell considering we don't have a proper training ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaz7 Posted January 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Are you sure it's not? What about all the other teams with artificial pitches who are playing considerably less well? What teams are you meaning? Are you telling me that a team with all respect to them Alloa would beat certain teams in the championship who have international players if it was not for their pitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Not for me, they should have no place in top flight football, As Gordon Strachan said recently, plastic surfaces are great for training the youths in terms of Technique and skill but that's it and football matches should always be played on grass. They also increase the risk of injury which has been evident to a few players at certain clubs that have played on them this season. They increase the chance of injury more than playing on what has been a bit of a shitehole every winter? I'm no expert, but I'd assume that playing on a grassy surface that breaks up and is logged with water would be just as dangerous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Superwell Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 True as well David but I know clubs especially ours has players who cant train on them during the week then play on a Saturday so these players sit out training on the plastic then turn up and play on the Saturday. Its happened to quite a number of teams this season, but grass for me is definitely a safer bet and I believe if you asked the majority of clubs and players then they would say grass is what they want to play on every week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaz7 Posted January 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Not for me, they should have no place in top flight football, As Gordon Strachan said recently, plastic surfaces are great for training the youths in terms of Technique and skill but that's it and football matches should always be played on grass. They also increase the risk of injury which has been evident to a few players at certain clubs that have played on them this season. Del as much as it pains me to say it we are not top level football we have average gates of 4 to 5k and that has been same since I started going nearly 30 yrs ago. You contradict yourself when you say great for technique and skill. Is that not what football is? Also as far as injurys that has been proven is a myth do you seriously think big clubs who have them in france russia usa etc who are very rich would risk their players on them. The injury thing is brought up by teams managers and players who are looking for an excuse before playing on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizoxy Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 My guess is that rectifying the slope would prove to be a big obstacle on top of the cost of installing the pitch. It may be that the savings from being able to use it for u20s, u17s etc, and train on it (as well as income from leasing it out) could recoup that cost. We have a couple of case studies in Dunfermline and Hamilton and others to see if this is the case. I'm not convinced it will make a significant difference on the playing side though. Hamilton's success isn't due to their pitch, it is down to their players playing well under a manager that has a plan. I also think we've had these pitches around long enough that we can start to understand whether there really is an increase in injuries compared to grass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Both surfaces have their pros and cons I guess, but I just think that playing on the kind of surfaces we see in Scotland through the wet season (ie; the entire season) has to be just as dangerous and it also affects the quality of football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaz7 Posted January 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Do you reckon that we could train on it aswell? That would be a big advantage aswell considering we don't have a proper training ground. Exactly our training parks will be I would imagine be very bumpy maybe someone with knowledge can help me on that but I have seen them from afar and they are in no wayas good as fp either in august or january anastro would be same allyear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizoxy Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Here is one article talking about the perceived injury risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaz7 Posted January 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Thank you fizoxy so thats one myth blown out the water although yes it is only one mans opinion.i think his statement that elite coaches and players do not like it makes total sense. Our players are not elite whether they like it or not and I seriously hope none of them feel they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Superwell Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 I agree with what you say Gaz7 however would we be having this thread if we were sitting 2nd/3rd in the table and Hamilton in the bottom 6, I say it would be doubtful, people see Accies being successful and automatically put it down to the plastic surface, having said that its just my opinion on the matter. If we did get plastic then fine, I wouldn't like it but I would accept it but I just prefer the traditional way of football being played on grass like its been for many years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizoxy Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Another thing to consider is whether having a plastic pitch would put doubt in the mind of potential signing targets. I think that as these pitches improve we'll see more of them in Scotland, but while the plastic clubs are in the minority you've got to think that this would be a factor when a player is weighing up his options. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaz7 Posted January 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Del I am100% with you I would prefer grass all the time also but we dont have finances to give us a consistent surface for training and games. Other teams are gaining an advantage and will continue to do so. fizoxy you are right in that some older players would not come of that there is no doubt but most young players now are brought up on these parks and so are more used to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Regardless of the pros and cons, I think the slope prevents any consideration of laying an artificial surface. I don't remember the figures quoted, but when the pitch problems were being addressed (partly due to the slope), someone in the know posted the details and it was a deal breaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ONeils40yarder Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Nah, just isnae right. Don't give a fuck what the pros are 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 What teams are you meaning? Are you telling me that a team with all respect to them Alloa would beat certain teams in the championship who have international players if it was not for their pitch. Well in Scotland, Killie would be the obvious "not exactly setting the heather alight" example, though of course they've only had theirs a few months so far. (It does look to be a better quality surface than NDP though). I'm sure Alloa do get some better results on their pitch than they would on grass, but I'd suggest that's still at least as much down to other teams' unfamiliarity/fear of it, as to any attributable improvement in Alloa's silkiness of football since they've had it. Overall, of the 12 SPFL clubs who currently have artificial pitches, their average league position is a decidedly mid-table 6th, which (admittedly without having looked into them in any more detail) doesn't suggest to me that they're having a measurably positive effect on those clubs' results in themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Plastic pitch would turn more fans away. Alloa's pitch is supposedly brutal by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Stall Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Overall, of the 12 SPFL clubs who currently have artificial pitches, their average league position is a decidedly mid-table 6th, which (admittedly without having looked into them in any more detail) doesn't suggest to me that they're having a measurably positive effect on those clubs' results in themselves. It would be interesting to compare these clubs home and away form against the rest of the league. I've been at both accies away games sadly, and it was clear to me the ball was reacting totally different to on grass. Not only the ball, but the players were reacting, turning, stopping different from what you see on grass. The home team are playing and training on this so it stands to reason that they should have some kind of advantage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaz7 Posted January 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Some interesting points but I have still not heard a valid reason why not. Also if we forget about the advantage football wise I think it would give us. How as a going business concern can we only utilise our main asset (the stadium/pitch) on only 20 times a year it is madness. Our club from youths to 1st team should be at fir park for all training and games as we do not have finances tohire other pitches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEWELL Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Totally against astroturf pitchies. By the way we're CRAP on them too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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