Celtic are set to enter discussions with their Premiership rivals about the possibility of outlawing artificial surfaces in the top flight of Scottish football. The Daily Mail report that senior club officials in the Premiership are open to discussing the move after Kilmarnock and Hamilton Accies were relegated leaving just Livingston’s Tony Macaroni Arena as the sole artificial surface in the top division.
A number of clubs in the lower divisions have these pitches and they may torpedo attempts to implement the ban on plastic parks in the top flight. However, there should be a scheme in place for clubs that win promotion to have access to funds to implement and maintain a grass surface instead of the fiasco from 2000 and 2003 with Falkirk missing out on promotion due to their stadium.
With Livi the only non-grass pitch, the league may see an opportunity to prohibit clubs using grass pitches in the future. This could be a seismic result, ridding the league of the ugly, dry and brutal artificial surfaces. With that said, the league would need to offer support for the clubs that are promoted and use plastic pitches so that the financial burden on them is eased slightly. More needs to be done to entice clubs into having and wanting grass pitches, offering interest free loans to maintain the pitches could be an idea.
Equally, the Dutch FA decided to implement a strategy using UEFA solidarity payments to rid their top flight of the artificial pitches. This could be something to be explored if either Celtic or Rangers qualify for the Champions League.
There needs to be an honest and frank discussion about these pitches and if there is a way to get a consensus amongst the clubs to either ban them or to allow them to remain.
Livingston would need money and a site for a new stadium, not money to maintain a grass pitch.
Yes! Artificial pitches make a lot of sense in the lower reaches of the League, and I am a great admirer of Forfar Athletic’s surface which has saved them a lot of money. But for the Premier League, football really should be played on grass, especially now that they have all the undersoil heating etc to protect the pitch in winter.