02 Mar 2024 08:21:58
Folks, I think it is now time for The SPL Clubs to get a change made to start for season 24/ 25 that Plastic Pitches are no longer an option, views folks please, thank you.
02 Mar 2024 08:38:42
Good idea but are Killie not delaying till start off 25? Maybe wrong.
02 Mar 2024 08:44:40
Fork i believe season 24/ 25 is rather fast mate be better season 25/ 26.
02 Mar 2024 08:59:34
Morning Mystar, I honestly don't think any other Countries top teams would've put up with these sort of sub-standard playing surfaces, how many of our players alone have been injured playing on plastic. I agree, that maybe I am being a bit optimistic in 24/ 25, but Rangers have ripped up our pitch the minute the season ends and had a new pitch ready for the start of the new season in the past.
02 Mar 2024 08:59:53
Agreed, no top flight club should be allowed to have a plastic pitch.
02 Mar 2024 09:02:15
That's what I said MyStar start of season 25 for killie, not 24/ 25, portger said that in the OP bud?.
02 Mar 2024 09:06:23
Sorry portger, it was actually you i meant to respond to, i agree with what you're saying mate but think that will be too fast for other clubs.
02 Mar 2024 09:07:40
Think to pass the change in the SPL you need 11 votes, so with Killie changing I would imagine it would be proposed and passed - unless any clubs have plans to install one, which I know St Johnston were looking in to a while back.
02 Mar 2024 09:09:27
Spot on Coop, but go and read TJBB56 post, may surprise you. Same Portger/ MyStar, have look at it, may peak your interest as you are discussing the topic of his post.
02 Mar 2024 09:10:07
On discussion posts guys?.
02 Mar 2024 09:18:31
Morning fellas just a thought could this be a first in football that the title is decided by killies plastic pitch one of us is going to play on it after the split.
02 Mar 2024 09:34:00
Fork, i read something similar a while ago about not as many injuries on them, but that is not my reason for doing away with them, game's not the same on them mate.
02 Mar 2024 09:42:06
The sfa caused this. I know from livis case and killie. That when they revamped pro youth to its present groups. To meet elite level clubs needed two all weather pitches to play youth games on. Land isn't easily available to smaller clubs so this meant changing their main pitch.
It didn't work out as Livingston were put in the bottom development group and killie into the middle one. I know Livingston were pretty pissed about this. The sfa has an academy table based not on match performance but on development. Teams are given points for academy players ;-
ending up in 1st team
Playing in the spl
winning dom trophies
Gaining international caps
Playing in England or a top 5 league
Livingston at that time could claim dorrans, Snodgrass, Halliday, Griffiths, Scott Brown, Nicky Clark. Murray Davidson all claim through their academy at one point. 19 of their squad of 26 came through the academy. This meant Livingston were 3rd on the sfa development table. Livingston is a new club with virtually no fans as we are mainly old firm and hearts and hibs fans here.
The club made its way developing players. Then they have put in a plastic pitch to meet criteria, but put in the bottom tier with the likes of Elgin who don't develop any players, they closed their academy. My boy went to hearts some went to Motherwell, hibs, fife elite, Dundee utd. The following year West Lothian won the Scottish schools u16 county cup.
West Lothian played Edinburgh in the QF and Glasgow in the SF both at the Livingston stadium. Their old Livingston youth coaches, along with all the old academy staff, were present. They stood and watch the kids they develop win convincingly, knowing they had to let them go for nothing to other spl sides.
The sfa and the spfl are the main problem in the use of plastic pitches. They are also to blame for holding back youth development. Elite intermediate and development leagues should be open to all even good boys' clubs with promotion and relegation and only merit being the criteria needed.
Livingston played a season in that bottom league. my boy's team were unbeaten all season. We would go to Elgin, Ross county and inverness. You can play 5 over age player Livingston would not use this instead opt to play good players who were younger. We travelled from Livingston to play Ross county in an u13 game. Ross county had 5 over age players.
Their goalie was 16 total nonsense. Going to Inverness, their coach was the referee. When we went to Elgin, they played in a public park/ field with uncut grass unmarked. It was a shambles. When they had to come to Livingston, they cancelled. We actually played Inverness in Perth but the others didn't bother coming down. At the end of the season, with unbeaten youth sides.
The sfa said they'd promote a team to intermediate group. That team wasn't unbeaten Livingston, it was queens park. When b teams were being spoken about playing in the lower leagues, i was raging, listening to the Elgin chairman talk about the integrity of Scottish football being undermined. Rich from a club that doesn't care about development.
Then clubs got £96k off of the sfa for development. Some only wanted that money. It's worse now with the UEFA solidarity payments. Having no u15,17,19,20,21 or 23 leagues kids are prevented from developing. The solidarity payments should be used to fund these leagues but instead pays first team players as long as they feature in the odd reserve game.
How many spfl sides once their team is out of the challenge cup all of a sudden loan out their entire u21 reserve side to junior teams then use the first team squad with th odd token u18 for reserve games. Instead of developing footballers, the sfa develop disillusionment.
Plastic pitches should be gone, but so should those running the show and replaced by people who want to see development rather than embezzlement.
02 Mar 2024 09:42:45
Raith rover's with a chance of promotion via play offs play on plastic. Could be replacing livingstone with raith. Get them gone. Vote now to make 25/ 26 the last season with no loopholes. That gives the teams time to change.
02 Mar 2024 09:45:18
Portger, did Chelsea v Man united not play out champions league final on a plastic surface?
02 Mar 2024 09:47:24
In Denmark they use them or that what people were saying when Diomande was going to start at Killie. Are they better quality type plastic pitches or.? If tes, then could that be the answer?
02 Mar 2024 10:23:52
It's not just plastic pitches that are the problem in Scotland, the St Johnstone pitch is generally a disaster and it is not plastic.
There should be a standard minimum quality for pitches as I am sure that there are good quality plastic surfaces and hybrid pitches that are a mix of grass and synthetic materials.
Bringing in minimum standards across the Board including stadium quality and consequently reducing the number of teams leading to a restructure of the league system would all benefit Scottish Football but it won't happen. Too many club Chairman only interested in their personal egos and a Hierarchy that is worse than useless.
02 Mar 2024 11:01:34
Livibear,
Very detailed post and a good read,
It must have taken you ages to type that as I know how long it takes me to post just a few lines.
02 Mar 2024 11:05:33
If there were the development leagues that could bring on players theyd make money from sell on to fix pitches stadiums, give fans a product to put bums on seats and in turn attract investment through sponsorship and tv deals.
The other night we played killie but the Edinburgh derby was on but the tv game was livi v motherwell. What other league would ignore the bigger games in full stadiums for that match. That is thinking out of the box no one needs.
02 Mar 2024 11:15:22
Great Post Livibear, I knew some of this but not this detail, good one and might? Open a few eyes.
02 Mar 2024 11:16:20
I totally agree Mystar, spoils it all bud??.
02 Mar 2024 11:34:31
Think Partick Thistle pro youth had similar troubles a good while back, was that bad they were playing the better boys club teams on the plastic at Maryhill. good post btw Livi.
02 Mar 2024 11:36:33
I want rid of plastic pitches.
To say no top flight clubs have them is bs they have them in Norway Russia to name a couple.
Paul I think they did was it not in Russia that final?
02 Mar 2024 13:16:46
I’m glad they didn’t have these pitches when I went to all the away games as I would have felt short changed as I haven’t seen a game of football on these pitches were I have thought that was a good game. The players just don’t look comfortable playing on them.
02 Mar 2024 13:20:34
We should start with a rule banning anyone from coming into the top league playing on plastic . Livvy are going down and Kilmarnock are getting rid of it the season after next . In a year or so, it would be job done, no plastic.
02 Mar 2024 13:25:09
Storm yes mate. Moscow.
02 Mar 2024 13:40:43
Some of the grass pitches have been a disgrace, St Mirren, St Johnstone impossible to play good football on, maybe fines would keep clubs on top of them, some junior pitches are better.
02 Mar 2024 16:01:29
Could be worse it could be an ash park ?.
02 Mar 2024 16:29:53
2008 cl final.