Artificial pitches

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

Wakey are going that way. 

I'm a fan of them in terms of avoiding heavy tracks especially in the colder months / sandy beach type conditions like at Headingly

What are peoples thoughts on these?

[M j M]

Groundsmen might have a vested interest, but the consensus is they are terrible.

It might seem counterintuitive BTW but the sand on top of the grass at Headingley seen the other week (very different to 'a beach') is evidence of very good and very expensive pitch management rather than the opposite.

 

[moorside roughyed]

1 hour ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Wakey are going that way. 

I'm a fan of them in terms of avoiding heavy tracks especially in the colder months / sandy beach type conditions like at Headingly

What are peoples thoughts on these?

The ground that we use in Oldham is artificial. I can see why some clubs may go in this direction. They can cut down on ground staff etc. But as previous post alluded to, the chances of injury may increase. 

[moorside roughyed]

2 minutes ago, M j M said:

Groundsmen might have a vested interest, but the consensus is they are terrible.

It might seem counterintuitive BTW but the sand on top of the grass at Headingley seen the other week (very different to 'a beach') is evidence of very good and very expensive pitch management rather than the opposite.

 

Ouch! 

[RP London]

36 minutes ago, M j M said:

Groundsmen might have a vested interest, but the consensus is they are terrible.

It might seem counterintuitive BTW but the sand on top of the grass at Headingley seen the other week (very different to 'a beach') is evidence of very good and very expensive pitch management rather than the opposite.

 

To be fair, playing at RLC level in the summer between 2003 and 2007 my legs were very similar. 

[headtackle]

Think they are a big improvement on the early ones they had at Preston, QPR, Oldham etc.   Still wouldn’t fancy playing on them though

As a fan I can appreciate that the better surface can provide a better spectacle and can be a good revenue generator/community hub.
 

Don’t like the ones with football markings on them as well.  All the lines look a mess at times and don’t get me started on cleaning up the ground up tyre pellets 

 

 

 

 

 

[Damien]

I can understand why clubs go for them but I really don't like the effect they have on how RL is played on them.

[M j M]

1 hour ago, ShropshireBull said:

Absolutely essential to any club with serious aspirations of being economically viable and a genuine community asset.

Well apart from the only three top flight clubs we have which are close to being economically viable have grass pitches you're completely correct.

[Dallas Mead]

Not for me thanks.  Yes for training and renting out to community clubs etc, but the match day has to be on grass.  We’ve got an absolutely fantastic pitch at Warrington all year round, have had for many years now.  That doesn’t come from cutting it once a week then praying for rain, it’s come from research, investment and a lot of hard work from a clearly outstanding ground staff team.

[Spidey]

34 minutes ago, Dallas Mead said:

Not for me thanks.  Yes for training and renting out to community clubs etc, but the match day has to be on grass.  We’ve got an absolutely fantastic pitch at Warrington all year round, have had for many years now.  That doesn’t come from cutting it once a week then praying for rain, it’s come from research, investment and a lot of hard work from a clearly outstanding ground staff team.

And Tesco gifting you a ground

[Dallas Mead]

25 minutes ago, Spidey said:

And Tesco gifting you a ground

Yep.

[Davo5]

Awful to play on,the Widnes pitch is like playing on a cheese grater.

[devonhawk]

I like it. I think playing on summer grass is tougher than playing on 3, 4 or 5g, especially at amateur level where pitches aren’t watered. 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

4 hours ago, M j M said:

Groundsmen might have a vested interest, but the consensus is they are terrible.

It might seem counterintuitive BTW but the sand on top of the grass at Headingley seen the other week (very different to 'a beach') is evidence of very good and very expensive pitch management rather than the opposite.

 

Maybe you know something I don't MJM but I have no idea what you are taking about here..... you are saying that large clumps of sand across a pitch is some kind of good thing or sign of good pitch management????

I've played on pitches that had sand used to fill in holes and they are shocking.... you brace yourself for a certain 'feel' on soil but sand give way more

Happy to hear your reasoning and change my mind. You never changed my mind about the non feasibility of swapping the camera orientation at Headingly so you'll need to work hard to convince me chap

 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

10 minutes ago, devonhawk said:

I like it. I think playing on summer grass is tougher than playing on 3, 4 or 5g, especially at amateur level where pitches aren’t watered. 

On the odd occasion my third team gets to use one we all like it.... especially in winter

[graveyard johnny]

its the plastic players we need to worry about

[Maximus Decimus]

4 hours ago, M j M said:

Groundsmen might have a vested interest, but the consensus is they are terrible.

It might seem counterintuitive BTW but the sand on top of the grass at Headingley seen the other week (very different to 'a beach') is evidence of very good and very expensive pitch management rather than the opposite.

 

There was a lot of this when Widnes first got the Ipitch but it largely didn't pan out nearly like the doom-mongers claimed it would. Funny, I thought about it today and looked at a few players' knees when the play came near; I didn't see any redness or anything.

They certainly make for faster games, but there is an artificial bounce to the ball.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

Just now, Maximus Decimus said:

There was a lot of this when Widnes first got the Ipitch but it largely didn't pan out nearly like the doom-mongers claimed it would. Funny, I thought about it today and looked at a few players' knees when the play came near; I didn't see any redness or anything.

They certainly make for faster games, but there is an artificial bounce to the ball.

At Ealing the ball bounced different depending on where on the pitch it was.....I guess it adds to the drama  

[Smudger06]

Fine, if needs must but must be only one set of lines. It's rubbish having several sets of different lines.......

[M j M]

1 hour ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Maybe you know something I don't MJM but I have no idea what you are taking about here..... you are saying that large clumps of sand across a pitch is some kind of good thing or sign of good pitch management????

I've played on pitches that had sand used to fill in holes and they are shocking.... you brace yourself for a certain 'feel' on soil but sand give way more

Happy to hear your reasoning and change my mind. You never changed my mind about the non feasibility of swapping the camera orientation at Headingly so you'll need to work hard to convince me chap

 

Ah yes I seem to recall you couldn't grasp a pretty simple concept there so this one really is going to be taxing.

Anyway you're under the misapprehension that it's there to "fill holes" which of course is ridiculous.

It's actually top dressing (not sand as such) and is there to keep the pitch in good condition - they choose to do this because it keeps the pitch healthy and chose to do it now so that, hopefully, the pitch is perfect for the start of the season.

Ryan Golding is Leeds' head groundsman.

 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

45 minutes ago, M j M said:

Ah yes I seem to recall you couldn't grasp a pretty simple concept there so this one really is going to be taxing.

Anyway you're under the misapprehension that it's there to "fill holes" which of course is ridiculous.

It's actually top dressing (not sand as such) and is there to keep the pitch in good condition - they choose to do this because it keeps the pitch healthy and chose to do it now so that, hopefully, the pitch is perfect for the start of the season.

Ryan Golding is Leeds' head groundsman.

 

Ah okay....Condescending start and then posting the name of the groundsman as if this proves your point

Fact : Headingly has often looked a lot more sandy than any other professional league, soccer or union ground I've ever seen/been to. Not just recent preseason games but several times in the last few seasons 

Bringing up the other older point... you never actually acknowledged the fact that the cameras should point the other way at Headingly (as we all know they should)......if you spend dozens of millions on building two new stands then it is definitely not beyond the wit of man to have the media placed in a position advantageous for a viewing spectacle.  Several similar grounds have done so (Kingsholme at Gloucester is one of many I could name)

I suspect you might be part of the set up at Leeds you are so defensive....

 

 

[Maximus Decimus]

53 minutes ago, M j M said:

Ah yes I seem to recall you couldn't grasp a pretty simple concept there so this one really is going to be taxing.

Anyway you're under the misapprehension that it's there to "fill holes" which of course is ridiculous.

It's actually top dressing (not sand as such) and is there to keep the pitch in good condition - they choose to do this because it keeps the pitch healthy and chose to do it now so that, hopefully, the pitch is perfect for the start of the season.

Ryan Golding is Leeds' head groundsman.

 

To be fair, they absolutely did used to use sand to fill holes back in the day. I can remember Widnes' pitch circa 1994ish being utterly dreadful and as a result they used sand to fill out the most worn areas in the centre of the pitch.

Pitches are so much better now than they used to be, I don't know a lot about it but they seem to have come on leaps and bounds in the last 20 years or so across all sports. I'm not sure if it's more money being spent, better equipment or better knowledge but it is very rare you see a dodgy pitch these days.

[M j M]

1 hour ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Bringing up the other older point... you never actually acknowledged the fact that the cameras should point the other way at Headingly (as we all know they should)......if you spend dozens of millions on building two new stands then it is definitely not beyond the wit of man to have the media placed in a position advantageous for a viewing spectacle.  Several similar grounds have done so (Kingsholme at Gloucester is one of many I could name)

I suspect you might be part of the set up at Leeds you are so defensive....

 

 

It was explained to you, over and over, why this couldn't be done. I'm not going to rehash that again because it would be obvious if you'd ever actually been to the ground why it's difficult for Sky trucks to access the back of the main stand.

 

[M j M]

1 hour ago, Maximus Decimus said:

To be fair, they absolutely did used to use sand to fill holes back in the day. I can remember Widnes' pitch circa 1994ish being utterly dreadful and as a result they used sand to fill out the most worn areas in the centre of the pitch.

Pitches are so much better now than they used to be, I don't know a lot about it but they seem to have come on leaps and bounds in the last 20 years or so across all sports. I'm not sure if it's more money being spent, better equipment or better knowledge but it is very rare you see a dodgy pitch these days.

Yeah definitely they used to. But that's not the reason the Leeds pitch looks sandy right now (or did last week). The technology of pitches is amazing now, as are the budgets allocated to maintaining them properly.

[Hopping Mad]

Dewsbury seem to have the best of both worlds: a plastic pitch for training and hiring to the community (it must be a great source of additional income), and a grass pitch on which to play their matches.