Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

Article on plastic pitches on BBC website

BBC Sport - Could artificial pitches be set for a return to Football League?

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

Nay any and thrice nay - yes I can understand what Rob is saying but at the end of the day, football is traditionally played on grass not plastic and what about the groundstaff?

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Where would the £500,000 initial outlay come from?

Would this surface be laid at the Crown Ground or the new stadium that is so often mentioned?

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You're not thinking outside the box. 7 days a week utilisation. Buzzer will be trained in plastic surgery, mark the pitch out one day a week and do boob jobs for the other 6. Income generation :)

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

Reminds me of the footballer who finished his career in the States, on arriving home he was asked by a reporter do you prefer Plastic or Grass, he replied don't know never smoked plastic:D

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The day one comes,is the day i stop going,hate em simple as.

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"There is an income to be gained from hiring the pitch out and money to be saved in maintenance costs and the fact that you can train on it".

"The community benefit is that you can get people down to the ground seven days a week rather than just 23 times a season for home fixtures."

Agree with Rob. There are lots of benefits to a club like ours. This isn't the 80s and it isn't Deepdale. Technology has moved on. We have to be forward thinking to survive.

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Have you seen an artificial pitch lately?

It aint like the 80's green plastic carpet the latest 3g pitches are better to play on than grass - the only issue is the impact when going to ground but that is dealt with by shock absorbers that I believe they would put in on a professional pitch.

I ran a team when I was at Uni last year and we played our games on good grass football pitches(we were playing on better pitches than the Stanley had at the time :p) but everyone preferred the surface on the artificial pitches we trained on - it's like playing on a bowling green.

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Well aware plastic pitches are much improved, i don't like em,is that a bit difficult to understand?:rolleyes: they could have a plastic training pitch n hire that out, ive been watching football too long, i aint gonna change me views.

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Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

I'm lucky enough to teach at a school which has one of the latest 3G all weather pitches. They are nothing like the old sort of plastic pitches but the games I've seen on them still remind me of 5 a side to be honest. Plus, what would happen when the league or FA changed its mind again and banned them?

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

Totally agree Cashy, we have both and give me grass anytime. It,s O.K. to train on but no good for matches.

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i'm not particularly bothered one or t'other, if it's good enough for the Champions League and World Cup matches it's good enough for Accy :)

However the bit about it having no maintance costs doesn't ring true to me. How long does one of those pitches last for? I know it isn't a like for like comparison but the Sports Centre all weather pitch has been knackered for many a year now and has stuck to the "no maintance" mantra, but it hasn't been good enough for a proper match for many a year. Can the new 3g pitches be maintained or do they need a complete re-lay (at 500k) every few years? 20 years use from one at £25k per year is expensive enough ....


Like Teach said, good for training on

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

Summat else that bugs me a little, if the Master Plan is to be a New Ground, Why is Rob Hayes talking about possibly spending that kinda money on the Crown?:confused:

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The way football is going,it will happen.
Most kids are being brought up on these surfaces,and slide tackling will be banned in the next five years,with tackling from behind being outlawed(even if you win the ball),the games changing.
As sam said,technology has given pitches an even bounce,and they even take a stud.
They will get underground heating ,and postponements will be a thing of the past.
I know people dont like change,but its the future

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

It may well be,as long as i have shuffled off this mortal coil,then its fine by me.
:D

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Many postponements these days are not because of the pitch but because Elf'N'Safety are terrified a supporter will slip on his/her arse getting to the ground.

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Makes me want to weep in shame at what our country has come to.:(

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:)Did you do a risk assessment before you wrote your post Redraine;):D

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

The problem is there's no such thing as an accident anymore, there's always somebody or some one to blame and compensation sets in:rolleyes:

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Don't you start!:D

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Not living in Accy, how many of these fields are there local? If most kids play on them now
there must be a dozen or more locally. I know where we are there is only one in a league of
40 teams. They are certainly no substitute for grass and disliked by all the teams. The only reason they are tolerated is that they are always available to train on.

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

Personally i think its a fantastic idea. With technology these days there's not much difference

a. would save us money!
b. stadium can be used all through the week.
c. dont have to pay for the maintenance for the pitch every year.
d. save money from the training ground.
plus plenty more.

Its about time people realised that football is changing and for a club like us its a great idea.

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

Good astro takes a lot of maintaining (though not as much skill), isn't cheap to run, and needs 100% replacement regularly, especially if used throughout the week. But it would cut out those stupid goal celebrations - you wouldn't want to slide on it unless absolutely necessary!! Good for hockey, but football - hmmm.

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There are pro's and cons to both sides of the argument, the finincial benefit to the club is obviously a plus point and making money from community use.

However if the players were to train on it every day and the youth teams, i think it may take some of the shine away from playing on it just match days, i no our ground isnt the best on match days anyway but it still may feel different to the players

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

Im presuming others saw rob heys in sky sports news studio earlier, on the special report on turf wars?....

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Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

i think the original mention of the idea inferred that it could be included in the new stadium, if and when that ever materialises.


My main concern would surround the idea that it saves money because of the lack of maintainence ... if it costs £500k now then how many seasons before it needs replacing? if its ten years then that is a "maintainence cost" of £50k a season n'est pas?

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

Surely there would be massive benefits for a "community" club,in terms of all year round useage,ie; schools,community clubs,as well as first team training,youth team games and private renting--- just get the council to pay for it !!!:) (and maintain it lol)

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There's no shortage of them already round here though, Accrington Academy & the College. Wonder how much they get booked up ?

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Well if thats the case,why are we training on rugby pitches!!!,which doesnt assist our pass and move,ball on the deck style!!! :hehetable

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It wouldn't be astroturf thats were the savings come in. Astro is whats at sports centre what theyll be looking to get will be more advanced version of whats at soccerdome. Wembley stadium has plastic pitch and natural grass weaved together.

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Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

I did say that it has natural grass which does need maintenance. Just thought it might be an interesting fact if people didnt no.

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lol didnt

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

Same sort of pitch at Burnley. From memory it's 3% plastic.

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For those who have sky,Irish league game now being played on astro-turf

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New pitch being laid - Everton reserves play here too 500k cost

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On saturday My league game was called off due to weather and our manager organised a friendly on 3g pitch over in Bacup. Whilst, the benefits of maximised utilisation are great and could generate Stanley some finances, it just isnt the same. The game doesnt feel the same, the ball doesnt run the same, players dont apply themselves as much. Football is for grass end of.

The old saying - 'why try and fix what aint broken'

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

to be honest i am old school,but you would never have know it was an artifical surface last night,and it did promote a high level of skill,was very impressed.
Then again theres nothing worse than playing on rock hard rutted piches at the beginning/end of a season.
Change will come as slide tackles will soon be outlawed

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As part of the building schools for the future in Pendle the new schools were kitted out with 3G pitches which we used in Winter for training the kids from Colne FC as ASFC62 points out for doing drills on and basic traing it was great and was usualy on whatever the weather but when a game ensued the game is not the same sort of false in a way which made for unforced errors, nasty cuts as well as friction burns, the ball not running as you would expect and as soon as we went on grass for games it was like we were a completely different team.

Not sure how many of these facilities already exsist in Hynburn but if there are several it could already be a very competitive area already for business particularly as more Pubs close losing their football teams which in terms may mean less teams to use such facilities?

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

Article on the football legue website The Football League | News | Football League | FL News | League to consult on artificial surfaces

Plus a chance to take part in the consultation as a fan at the bottom of the article

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

"artificial pitches are unlikely to be re-introduced after widespread opposition at the Football League's AGM"

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Latest from Portugal

BBC Sport - Artificial pitches consultation finds widespread opposition to plans

Re: Plastic Pitches - Neighbours Don't See Eye to Eye
 

Good.

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I know this topic is pretty much done now as the FA have no plans to change anytime soon, but below is some costings on the new 3G pitches.

8 of the bottom 20 clubs in the Scottish FL will now be playing on these pitches from this season. Whilst traditionally I much preferred games on grass, the new 3G pitches are simply state of the art. Infact even the elading rugby clubs up north have changed their views. New shock absorber levels make the pitches a lot safer too.

Annan Athletic recently installed a pitch at a cost of £592k. This is around £100k higher than normal but the reason it costs so much is not the surface itself, but the ground preparatory work. Anna for example had a ridiculous 4 foot slope - now completely even. Terracing had to be moved, and pipes removed and reinstalled. This is why the initial cost is often so high.

The carpet has a lifespan of 12 years - can last 14 if kept in prime condition. After 12-14 years a new pitch would be relaid, costing in the region of £110k - £120k. However Stenhousemuir FC for example make in excess of £30k profit per year and therefore if you set aside less than a third of that each season into a seperate account then you have your lump sum needed 12 years down the line.

Annan currently spend £25k per year mainintaing their grass pitch - this reduces by half next year with the 3G.

They have pretty much become a necessity up north due to the weather the past 3 years - games between December and March have been hard enough to come by in the central belt up here, but anything north or south of that and there's no hope of a game being played.

Finally, as many have pointed out, the biggest issue is with the initial layout. Scotland recently had a massive review as to why the national team are so poor - insert your own joke, I dont offend easily. :-) The main issue is the appaling lack of conditions - ie only 1 proper football academy in the entire country, and only 200 plastic pitches - the Dutch by comparison have over 3000. (even with the difference in size, Scotland should have around 2000).

Fortunately the most prominent figures in the current Scottish government are big football fans and as such have used different initiatives to either fully or partly fund these pitches. Most new schools come with plastic pitches too.

Many wont like it, but they are becoming more and more prominent throughout Europe and its also a great way for smaller clubs to involve their communties. ie schools get free use during the day, and it gets rented out at night. And importantly the game is pretty much guarenteed to go ahead. My own Scottish club (Clyde) will have one installed in time for next season - they've had multiple games off in recent years due to frost/floods etc and they lose 705 of all income having to play the game on a Tue night, so this is great news for my club for many reasons.

Its not for everyone though, I do concede. (apologies for unnecessary length of this post!!!).