The Earl of Hathaway Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 I am not a groundsman and have no experience in horticulture, so can someone explain to me why, without rugby being played on it, the pitch is in such bad nick this year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Another Username Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 general winter conditions and any use of the USH I'd imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cup Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 The Celtic U21s also play on it afaik. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G SUS Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 I am not a groundsman and have no experience in horticulture, so can someone explain to me why, without rugby being played on it, the pitch is in such bad nick this year? Let me flip it. Can you name 5 pitches in Scotlsand that are in "decent nick"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potty trained Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 (edited) Let me flip it. Can you name 5 pitches in Scotlsand that are in "decent nick"? I'll throw 2 in the hat. Cappielow and new st mirren park, both of them in great condition! Celtic park and Ibrox That's 4, all west of Scotland... One more? Edited February 25, 2013 by potty trained Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H Wragg Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 There is no doubt that Firhill is cramping our style at the moment IMO. I thought it was particularly noticeable against Accies last week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paralytic thistle Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 I'll throw 2 in the hat. Cappielow and new st mirren park, both of them in great condition! Celtic park and Ibrox That's 4, all west of Scotland... One more? surprised you did not include Newlandsfield Park Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenziejag Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Hamden? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodstock Jag Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Worth pointing out at least in relation to Cappielow that they don't have undersoil heating. It's placed within a microclimate that seldom leads to below-freezing temperatures causing long-term damage to the surface. As for Rangers and Celtic, they have an extensive team of paid ground-staff and yet in recent years they've had to completely resurface Ibrox mid-way through a season. It's February. It's Scotland. It's cold, and we can't just lay down turf at will. It's an artificial surface or this, I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peagreenboy Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Because we're skint and no money is spent on it whatsoever? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winter of '63 Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Firhill's playing surface has never been great...I can remember Gordon Strachan mentioning it as his least favourite away ground because the pitch was so bumpy...this was when he was playing for Aberdeen so that would have been in the early 80's. Playing fewer games during the Winter months or laying an artificial surface would seem the only practical solutions...Saturday's game against Airdrie was a reminder of how a poor playing surface can affect the entertainment value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trotter Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Undersoil heating a factor &though not an expert, I don't think the pitch really recovered from Morton game played in torrential rain on Boxing Day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G SUS Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 I don't think the pitch really recovered from Morton game played in torrential rain on Boxing Day! There was 3 weeks between games!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 God, when you look at some of the old games from the 80's, we're playing on a kind of paradisiacal surface these days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billko Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 (edited) I think grass is the surface football should be played on but I also think the surface should be even for a passing football team anyway. In the winter you will struggle to get decent pitches in this country but what I don't understand is the SPL don't allow artificial pitches. Ok they are not as good as grass but the latest 4g are very good and a surface suited to a team who wants to get the ball down and play. With money so tight Scottish football clubs would make money having artificial surfaces as the pitch can be rented out every night and don't need the maintainence of a grass pitch. The first team down to the youth teams could get use of it. Russian clubs are allowed to use them in the champions league so if it's good enough for Uefa then surely it's good enough for the Spl. If any team has any aspiration to get to the top league in Scotland then they can't go down the artificial pitch route but it's something i think needs looked at. In an ideal world it would be grass but we don't live in one. Edited February 26, 2013 by billko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 According to Maxie tho' our pitch is poor at the moment it's by no means the worst. The state of Raith's has been well publicised but Falkirk's (normally a fine surface) is apparently horrendous. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinny Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 Artificial surfaces FTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrantB Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 It's well documented that the use of undersoil heating destroys pitches which explains, to some extent, our reluctance to use ours before the Raith game in December. As the good lady has mentioned, Falkirk's pitch has to be seen to be believed. There was a picture on Twitter a couple of weeks ago and it looked like a post apocalyptic nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 It's well documented that the use of undersoil heating destroys pitches which explains, to some extent, our reluctance to use ours before the Raith game in December. As the good lady has mentioned, Falkirk's pitch has to be seen to be believed. There was a picture on Twitter a couple of weeks ago and it looked like a post apocalyptic nightmare. Do Falkirk have USH? How many times have we used ours this season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrantB Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 Do Falkirk have USH? How many times have we used ours this season? They must do since they have been in the SPL more recently than us. I'd guess at least 3 games (Dunfermline cup game, Morton game on Boxing day and Saturday's game with Airdrie) Might have used it before the Falkirk game as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norgethistle Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 It's February. It's Scotland. It's cold, and we can't just lay down turf at will. It's an artificial surface or this, I'm afraid. Can we not just transplant from the bing?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norgethistle Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 There was 3 weeks between games!! And grass doesn't really grow at this time off year so damage not really fixing itself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda-jag Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 It's well documented that the use of undersoil heating destroys pitches which explains, to some extent, our reluctance to use ours before the Raith game in December. As the good lady has mentioned, Falkirk's pitch has to be seen to be believed. There was a picture on Twitter a couple of weeks ago and it looked like a post apocalyptic nightmare. All of Falkirk is a post apocalyptic nightmare, not just their pitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrantB Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 All of Falkirk is a post apocalyptic nightmare, not just their pitch. Very true. Grangemouth (where I work) is even worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackpool Jags Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 I know it's 100 miles or so South of the border, but the state of Blackpool's pitch is something to behold. I was at an event there today which looked out onto the pitch and it was horrific; made the Firhill surface look like a table at the Crucible. The groundsman seemed to spend hours just peppering it with sand. It's the talk of the steamy down here. Total shambles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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