Artificial Pitches

Luke Imp

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
12,419
Reaction score
2,883
Points
113
Location
Lincoln
Supports
Lincoln City
I'm not sure I've read they were allowed.

I think Bromley have got it wrapped round their nuts unless I've missed something?
 

dedwardp

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2015
Messages
2,365
Reaction score
601
Points
113
Supports
Colchester United
I'm not sure I've read they were allowed.

I think Bromley have got it wrapped round their nuts unless I've missed something?

Maidstone are allowed to be promoted into the Conference South with their one now.

Here's the original announcement last summer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28589474

So I take it then that they're now saying the national league won't allow it, but the two regional ones will? Make it up as they go along.
 

Silver Stone

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2015
Messages
1,083
Reaction score
468
Points
83
Supports
Maidstone United
Making it up as they go along indeed.

I don't see the bee in people's bonnet about 3G, I really don't. :dk:
 

Jemfy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2015
Messages
1,129
Reaction score
303
Points
83
Supports
AFC Rushden & Diamonds
Maidstone are allowed to be promoted into the Conference South with their one now.

Here's the original announcement last summer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28589474

So I take it then that they're now saying the national league won't allow it, but the two regional ones will? Make it up as they go along.

Yep, that's how the whole thing has been on artificial pitches all the way. Probably change it next season again to allow them if it goes well with the ones in the conference south at least.
 

TrinidadsNumberOne

Gizza job?
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
3,146
Reaction score
908
Points
113
Location
Crewe/Macclesfield
Supports
Crewe
They should be reinstated in the football league sharpish. Seriously, the advancements in artificial pitch techology have been rapid and are so so different to the farcical pitches at Preston, Oldham, Luton and QPR in the 80s. I think it'd be brilliant for lower league teams revenue too.
 

Bluandwite

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2015
Messages
2,070
Reaction score
465
Points
83
Supports
Chester FC
Not sure really, when we faced Woodley Sports & Durham in the Evo-Stik leagues the artificial pitches they had made for an appalling watch of football I felt.
 

dedwardp

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2015
Messages
2,365
Reaction score
601
Points
113
Supports
Colchester United
Yep, that's how the whole thing has been on artificial pitches all the way. Probably change it next season again to allow them if it goes well with the ones in the conference south at least.

Well the announcement in the link says: "The Football Conference will allow 3G pitches in all three divisions from the start of the 2015-16 season."

So, to me, it looks like they have changed their minds and that Bromley also believed it would be in all three divisions. Again, making it up as they go along it would appear.
 

Southern Shayman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2015
Messages
1,178
Reaction score
455
Points
83
Supports
Halifax Town
Personally I'm against artificial pitches, the bounce just isn't natural compared to grass and let's be honest it just doesn't look right.

Also, I believe the PFA had a body of evidence that artificial surfaces contributed to joint injuries due to the give in the surface?
 

Sparrow

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
2,911
Reaction score
1,555
Points
113
Supports
Woking FC
Football should be played on grass.
 

rudebwoyben

Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
4,526
Reaction score
1,554
Points
113
Location
London WC1E
Supports
Barnet
I think the trouble is that a lot of pitches at non-league level don't really consist of grass from November onwards.
 

Jemfy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2015
Messages
1,129
Reaction score
303
Points
83
Supports
AFC Rushden & Diamonds
Well the announcement in the link says: "The Football Conference will allow 3G pitches in all three divisions from the start of the 2015-16 season."

So, to me, it looks like they have changed their minds and that Bromley also believed it would be in all three divisions. Again, making it up as they go along it would appear.

What I meant was that they kept changing their tune, agreeing with the "they make it up as they go along", should have put that bit in bold to highlight that was what I was replying to!
 

Jemfy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2015
Messages
1,129
Reaction score
303
Points
83
Supports
AFC Rushden & Diamonds
Personally I'm against artificial pitches, the bounce just isn't natural compared to grass and let's be honest it just doesn't look right.

Also, I believe the PFA had a body of evidence that artificial surfaces contributed to joint injuries due to the give in the surface?

Which artificial pitches have you seen it on, and do they match the FIFA gradings?

I'm undecided. There are a lot of potential up sides, but I've not seen them in action a lot. If you can't use them in the FA Cup (proper rounds at least, but I anticipate that changing), or in the lower reaches of the Football League then it doesn't make sense to bother researching for most conference national clubs.
 

Kim Mitten

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2015
Messages
1,067
Reaction score
408
Points
83
Supports
Southend United
Also, I believe the PFA had a body of evidence that artificial surfaces contributed to joint injuries due to the give in the surface?

Do they? then they are probably making it up. All the medical evidence I've ever seen says there is no noticeable difference in injury or fatigue to the body between grass and artificial surfaces. If injury was a factor at all the NFL would be ripping them up left right and centre, a game that is far more physically demanding than football.

I'm for them from an extra revenue and longevity perspective, especially further down the pyramid. When a dreadful winter hits, be it snow or rain, they would be a must.
 

Jemfy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2015
Messages
1,129
Reaction score
303
Points
83
Supports
AFC Rushden & Diamonds
We played on 3G in the 1st round this season :)


Ahh I forgot about that, think the rule at the start of the season was that you couldn't? Or was that the previous year? Is it now up to a different round?
 

Kim Mitten

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2015
Messages
1,067
Reaction score
408
Points
83
Supports
Southend United
I thought FA cup 3G pitches are allowed same for Trophy and Vase. What makes the current League stance (and Conference) more ridiculous is that FIFA allow 3G in all FIFA competitions, so the World Cup Final could be played on 3G but Bromley v Braintree couldn't.
 

The_Boss

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2015
Messages
3,252
Reaction score
1,781
Points
113
Location
High Peak
Supports
Macclesfield FC
They are so different to play on vs. grass though, massive advantage to the home team I would say.
 

SomeMightShay

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2015
Messages
691
Reaction score
353
Points
63
Supports
FC Halifax Town
Twitter
@SomeMightShay
Football should be played on grass.

Or sand and mud in our case. If you stuck to that rule we would have to play all our home games in the first three and last two months of the season.

That is what makes me laugh in all this, The Conference/FL have this hign and mighty attitude towards artificial surfaces but sides like ourselves, Blackpool and Bradofrd (amongst others) are allowed to stage matches on surface that are not fit for putting cattle on. I don't like the idea of artificial surfaces but in some instances it would be better than what the clubs already have.
 

Raymondo316

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
Messages
2,551
Reaction score
1,059
Points
113
Location
Maidstone
Supports
Maidstone United
Just read in the non league paper that the Conference have now given the ok for 3G in the Conference National :gr:
 

eightiesrobin

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
1,932
Reaction score
567
Points
113
Supports
Altrincham

Crap pitches in non-league? How about the 1970 FA Cup semi-final at White Hart Lane?
 

Greenacres

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2015
Messages
2,390
Reaction score
1,062
Points
113
Location
West Country
Supports
Forest Green Rovers
I have to admit to a degree of scepticism about plastic pitches, but they seem to have come a long way since the type used by QPR and Luton back in the 80's. I watched the Germany versus Ivory Coast game this evening, in the Women's World Cup, that was played on a 3G pitch. Apart from the little clouds of black rubber, that came off the pitch sometimes when the ball was kicked, there wasn't much difference to a game played on grass. For some clubs a pitch like this would make perfect sense as it can be used far more often than a grass pitch, as there is presumably no recovery time between use, thus generating extra income.
 

City169

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
1,401
Reaction score
415
Points
83
Supports
Bristol City
Don't really like artificial pitches, went to a game at Merthyr last season and the ball bounced weird among other things. the fact that one team would be used to this and the other turns up on the day and has to adapt to it so quick is massively unfair too
 

rudebwoyben

Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
4,526
Reaction score
1,554
Points
113
Location
London WC1E
Supports
Barnet
Don't really like artificial pitches, went to a game at Merthyr last season and the ball bounced weird among other things. the fact that one team would be used to this and the other turns up on the day and has to adapt to it so quick is massively unfair too
When a grass pitch gets to the state it did at grounds such as Kiddy's and Dartford's last season, the ball does a lot more than bounce weirdly. There are a lot of clubs whose grass pitches just never stand up to the rigours of a season and even more so if there is another club ground-sharing. Even a club such as Bradford City in League 1 would benefit from having an artificial pitch.
 

Mark kavanagh

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 16, 2015
Messages
1,979
Reaction score
634
Points
113
Location
Birkenhead
Supports
Tranmere
I remember during the mid 80s prenton park having a 2 metre square bald patch along the borough road side , if the ball bounced on this it used to shoot off at all strange angles and heights.... Like a 5th day cricket pitch in somewhere like india
 

JE93

Active Member
Joined
May 24, 2015
Messages
373
Reaction score
163
Points
43
Location
where you least expect me
Supports
Darlington FC
From personal experience of playing in leagues where teams used grass and artificial pitches, I will always vote for professional football to be played on grass. While there have certainly been huge advances in artificial pitches they still don't play the same as grass in my experience. The ball bounces differently, as well as this, from having friends who have studied sports science, I know there is research and that some club physio's and doctors recommend that certain players do not train on 3G pitches because the can aggravate certain old injuries. This is due to the base layer the surface is built upon, and once again from personal experience I always found 3G pitches to be more draining physically than grass.

This isn't to say that there aren't benefits to 3G, it certainly has improved massively since the 80's, provides a positive consistent surface and the revenues that can be brought into clubs from not having to cancel games through winter and renting the pitch out the rest of the time are a big plus to many clubs. But I hope in the long term that pitches remain grass based, I think the future lies in synthetic mix pitches such as the likes of Wembley, the emarites, old trafford etc. Rather than in full synthetic 3G pitches.
 

Southern Shayman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2015
Messages
1,178
Reaction score
455
Points
83
Supports
Halifax Town
From personal experience of playing in leagues where teams used grass and artificial pitches, I will always vote for professional football to be played on grass. While there have certainly been huge advances in artificial pitches they still don't play the same as grass in my experience. The ball bounces differently, as well as this, from having friends who have studied sports science, I know there is research and that some club physio's and doctors recommend that certain players do not train on 3G pitches because the can aggravate certain old injuries. This is due to the base layer the surface is built upon, and once again from personal experience I always found 3G pitches to be more draining physically than grass.

This isn't to say that there aren't benefits to 3G, it certainly has improved massively since the 80's, provides a positive consistent surface and the revenues that can be brought into clubs from not having to cancel games through winter and renting the pitch out the rest of the time are a big plus to many clubs. But I hope in the long term that pitches remain grass based, I think the future lies in synthetic mix pitches such as the likes of Wembley, the emarites, old trafford etc. Rather than in full synthetic 3G pitches.

Completely agree: 3G just doesn't bounce true and is absolutely terrible on joints.
 

Pliny Harris

Frightened Inmate #2
Site Supporter
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
1,857
Reaction score
1,511
Points
113
Location
Western Cumbria
Supports
The Provisional Brotherhood
The plastic pitches at Durham and Woodley were injury central when they were in the same league. Also interesting that they both were vastly superior sides at home, while Woodley for one were tit awful away from home.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
16,422
Messages
1,189,971
Members
8,392
Latest member
feby2112

Latest posts

Stronger Security, Faster Connections with VPN at IPVanish.com!

SITE SPONSORS

W88 W88 trang chu KUBET Thailand
Fun88 12Bet Get top UK casino bonuses for British players in casinos not on GamStop
The best ₤1 minimum deposit casinos UK not on GamStop Find the best new no deposit casino get bonus and play legendary slots Best UK online casinos list 2022
No-Verification.Casino Casinos that accept PayPal Top online casinos
sure.bet
Need help with your academic papers? Customwritings offers high-quality professionals to write essays that deserve an A!
Top