Congratulations Harrogate Town + New pitch and stand.

[Rob]

I agree a good grass pitch is better than 4G, that isn't the point though. Would you rather have your club survive and play on 4G than potentially go bust? It may not be a question for us right now, but other clubs less fortunate are right on the edge. It's a financial decision thousands of other professional clubs have made. The benefits, for me, outweigh the negatives. I watched a lot of Dutch football on 4G and after a while didn't even notice it wasn't grass and pretty much all local football is played on 4G, not the dogdo riddled mud baths our amateur players suffer.

[Big yella]

League 1 and 2 should be allowed to use artificial pitches, the argument is even stronger in this tough financial climate.

Completely disagree, if you can’t maintain a grass pitch you shouldn’t be allowed in the professional leagues. For once I’m fully in line with the EFL

I understand this is a pretty divided thing, and the benefits and negatives to grass/plastic but ultimately I just don’t think it should ever be allowed at this level.

Agreed a grass pitch should be the minimum requirement for a professional club. Fair enough in non league where clubs cant afford it but not in the EFL. Theres teams way way way below the conference that all manage it so any pro club should be able to.

Teams playing on plastic every week will be used to it, it changes the game and its an advantage when playing at home.

But surely the said teams away record would be terrible having to play on an unusual surface

Why?

If Harrogate came into the league with their plastic pitch they would play 50% of their games on grass and so be perfectly accustomed to the surface. Where as every other side would be adjusting for just one game at there place. Unfair advantage?

[NorthLondonStag]

League 1 and 2 should be allowed to use artificial pitches, the argument is even stronger in this tough financial climate.

Completely disagree, if you can’t maintain a grass pitch you shouldn’t be allowed in the professional leagues. For once I’m fully in line with the EFL

I understand this is a pretty divided thing, and the benefits and negatives to grass/plastic but ultimately I just don’t think it should ever be allowed at this level.

Agreed a grass pitch should be the minimum requirement for a professional club. Fair enough in non league where clubs cant afford it but not in the EFL. Theres teams way way way below the conference that all manage it so any pro club should be able to.

Teams playing on plastic every week will be used to it, it changes the game and its an advantage when playing at home.

But surely the said teams away record would be terrible having to play on an unusual surface

Why?

If Harrogate came into the league with their plastic pitch they would play 50% of their games on grass and so be perfectly accustomed to the surface. Where as every other side would be adjusting for just one game at there place. Unfair advantage?

This got binned off donkeys years ago when Preston(?) had their plastic pitch for a while. Ball bounces too high and too fast off the surface and it makes for a rubbish game which is why they binned it.,

[HU7stag]

Along with QPR and Luton.

Didn't we get thrashed by Luton on their plastic pitch 7-2 or something, saying that Luton were top flight and had some very good players.

[Rob]

Far from 4G being binned, the number of leagues allowing them is increasing enormously. You now have them in the Champions League, MLS, Eredivisie, the whole of Scandinavia, Womens World Cup Finals and in all UK leagues except Premier League and EFL.

Also you cannot compare the 4G pitches now to the ones QPR, Luton and Preston had.

[Sneag]

Far from 4G being binned, the number of leagues allowing them is increasing enormously. You now have them in the Champions League, MLS, Eredivisie, the whole of Scandinavia, Womens World Cup Finals and in all UK leagues except Premier League and EFL.

Also you cannot compare the 4G pitches now to the ones QPR, Luton and Preston had.

Didn't Oldham have one too?

[NorthLondonStag]

Far from 4G being binned, the number of leagues allowing them is increasing enormously. You now have them in the Champions League, MLS, Eredivisie, the whole of Scandinavia, Womens World Cup Finals and in all UK leagues except Premier League and EFL.

Also you cannot compare the 4G pitches now to the ones QPR, Luton and Preston had.

Fair point - I was being slightly flippant (but BTW isn't Harrogate 3G, not 4G)?

[Rob]

Far from 4G being binned, the number of leagues allowing them is increasing enormously. You now have them in the Champions League, MLS, Eredivisie, the whole of Scandinavia, Womens World Cup Finals and in all UK leagues except Premier League and EFL.

Also you cannot compare the 4G pitches now to the ones QPR, Luton and Preston had.

Didn't Oldham have one too?

Yes of course, Ricky Holden and co.

[Rob]

Far from 4G being binned, the number of leagues allowing them is increasing enormously. You now have them in the Champions League, MLS, Eredivisie, the whole of Scandinavia, Womens World Cup Finals and in all UK leagues except Premier League and EFL.

Also you cannot compare the 4G pitches now to the ones QPR, Luton and Preston had.

Fair point - I was being slightly flippant (but BTW isn't Harrogate 3G, not 4G)?

Not sure to be honest, nor am I sure what the difference is. 4 sounds newer than 3

[halifaxstag]

The plastic pitches of the 80s were massively different to today’s artificial pitches.
My personal opinion is that football at a professional level should normally be played on grass.
This article from 2014 has the main discussion points http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/29894478

[Sneag]

Far from 4G being binned, the number of leagues allowing them is increasing enormously. You now have them in the Champions League, MLS, Eredivisie, the whole of Scandinavia, Womens World Cup Finals and in all UK leagues except Premier League and EFL.

Also you cannot compare the 4G pitches now to the ones QPR, Luton and Preston had.

Fair point - I was being slightly flippant (but BTW isn't Harrogate 3G, not 4G)?

Not sure to be honest, nor am I sure what the difference is. 4 sounds newer than 3

Avoid the 5G though it'll give you Covid.

[steiner]

Didn't we smash Preston for 5 on their plaggy pitch?

[Martin Shaw]

Didn't we smash Preston for 5 on their plaggy pitch?

yes. Full game available to view on iFollow during the pandemic

[steiner]

Didn't we smash Preston for 5 on their plaggy pitch?

yes. Full game available to view on iFollow during the pandemic

Cheers Martin wouldn't mind seeing that.. Was it late 80s early 90s?

[Martin Shaw]

Didn't we smash Preston for 5 on their plaggy pitch?

yes. Full game available to view on iFollow during the pandemic

Cheers Martin wouldn't mind seeing that.. Was it late 80s early 90s?

see viewtopic.php?p=829786#p829786

[Dan]

I think we were already relegated by then and Preston had to win to stay up and we dragged them down with us. We did a big conga all over that big away end

We actually played against a Preston fans team on the pitch before our game, we got beat 4-0 & I got motm despite letting in 4! The bounce of the ball was incredible.

[Spiritater]

Grass all day for me.

[Rob]

Grass all day for me.

We're on about footy pitches, not your recreational habits

[bellwhiff]

It’s absolutely correct to say that a good grass pitch is better than a good 4G surface

It’s also fair to say that a 4G pitch is a lot better than a bad or boggy grass surface.

Newport for example. Add to that the longevity and it’s ridiculous and backward to ban the surfaces from the league.

[Spiritater]

I love the fact there are imponderables with grass pitches.
The phew moment where the away striker has a simple tap in in 90+8 mins to win the game at t'Mill and t'ball hits a divot and he misses it completely

[ST4GS]

I love the fact there are imponderables with grass pitches.
The phew moment where the away striker has a simple tap in in 90+8 mins to win the game at t'Mill and t'ball hits a divot and he misses it completely

Good examples are when the pitch is waterlogged and the striker shoots and turns away celebrating only to find the ball got stuck in the mud on the line. The best one though is Stan Collymore's goal for Liverpool at Blackburn against Tim Flowers when a poor speculative shot straight down the middle of the goal hit a divot and bounced over Flowers. I bet the groundsman got blamed for that one.

[Rob]

It’s absolutely correct to say that a good grass pitch is better than a good 4G surface

It’s also fair to say that a 4G pitch is a lot better than a bad or boggy grass surface.

Newport for example. Add to that the longevity and it’s ridiculous and backward to ban the surfaces from the league.

I think at the very top level then we should be playing on grass surfaces as they can afford to keep them pristine, but as you say, at lower levels pitches are very often appalling in Jan/Feb and quite clearly far more dangerous than 4G. However, this isn't really my argument for allowing clubs to use them, my main argument really is a financial one, if we had a 4G pitch it could be used every day of every week of every month, bringing in money to the club and a new resource to the local community.

As for examples of a dodgy pitch, the goal against Spurs in 77

[Spiritater]

We have the 5 a side pitches for that sort of thing don't we?

[MTFCMAD]

It’s absolutely correct to say that a good grass pitch is better than a good 4G surface

It’s also fair to say that a 4G pitch is a lot better than a bad or boggy grass surface.

Newport for example. Add to that the longevity and it’s ridiculous and backward to ban the surfaces from the league.

I think at the very top level then we should be playing on grass surfaces as they can afford to keep them pristine, but as you say, at lower levels pitches are very often appalling in Jan/Feb and quite clearly far more dangerous than 4G. However, this isn't really my argument for allowing clubs to use them, my main argument really is a financial one, if we had a 4G pitch it could be used every day of every week of every month, bringing in money to the club and a new resource to the local community.

As for examples of a dodgy pitch, the goal against Spurs in 77

1) Most pitches now days aren’t too bad given a handful of clubs.
2) We’ve already got that sorted so won’t affect us
3) that was 43 years ago ....pitch maintenance has come along way.

In my selfish opinion artificial pitches shouldn’t be allowed in the league.....don’t think I’ve ever watched a game on one that I’ve enjoyed.

[stag861]

At least plastic pitches stay the same throughout the season. We've played on some awful sand traps at the end of the winter. Does that give the home team an unfair advantage playing on an awful pitch for their home games?