Survey of players condemns Scottish Premiership's use of artificial pitches
Scotland’s top footballers have resoundingly condemned the use of artificial pitches in the Scottish Premiership, while their counterparts in the lower leagues have delivered an equally forceful demand that all surfaces should be maintained to the highest level possible. The results emerged in a survey carried out by PFA Scotland, which did not poll its members at Hamilton, Kilmarnock and Livingston, all of which have artificial pitches.
The issue has been highlighted by injuries to several players in recent seasons, with one notable example being Rangers’ Jamie Murphy, who has not played since being stretchered from the field with a knee injury at Rugby Park in September. Critics of Scotland’s so-called ‘plastic pitches’ include Steven Gerrard and Brendan Rodgers and now PFA Scotland has released the findings of a survey of members, which leaves no room for doubt about players’ opinions.
The poll did not include players at the clubs which have artificial pitches because it was felt unfair to put them in a potentially difficult position with their employers but, with those exceptions, every player in the Scottish Premiership has signed a petition to abolish wholly synthetic surfaces and every club representative in the Championship, League One and League Two signed on behalf of his team mates a demand for all pitches to be maintained to the highest standard possible.
St Johnstone’s Liam Craig, Chairman of PFA Scotland, said: “Players believe that removing artificial surfaces from the top league and improving them throughout the SPFL Championship, League One and League Two will have a positive impact on our game in Scotland.
“The inconsistency of artificial surfaces at the top level of Scottish football is a major factor on how the game is played by players. The ball rolls and bounces differently which affects a player’s decision making.
“Movements such as running, turning and tackling on the pitch also have a negative impact on the body which inevitably affects a players performance. Players often say it takes longer to recover after playing on an artificial pitch. This can not only effect future performances, but also team selection.
“If a player takes longer to recover, a manager may not select them for games on these surfaces or for a game after playing on them. A decision based on this sees a player suffer financially - the player could not only miss out on bonuses and appearance money but could find themselves out of the team for a longer period purely down to a game being played on an artificial surface.”
PFA Scotland Chief Executive Fraser Wishart said: “This is a strong, powerful message from our members, those that actually play the game. It is abundantly clear from our conversations with all 42 squads our members feel passionately about Scottish football and care about the image and perception of the game they love.
“Football is, of course, an entertainment industry, but our members do not enjoy playing on artificial surfaces in particular. The SPFL recently agreed television contracts meaning that Premiership matches will be seen all over the world and this can only be good for Scottish football.”
“To keep improving, and to capitalise on the feel-good factor, our members are of the view that having quality pitches to play on is of vital importance. Our members in the Premiership want to see regulation in place that will ensure all Premiership pitches are grass which are maintained to the highest standards.
“The standard of grass pitches in the Premiership has improved, particularly since the Pitch Rater App has been in place, therefore there is no reason why clubs at the highest level cannot have a well-maintained grass pitch.
“Our members in all divisions feel artificial surfaces are often over-used and the priority seems to be community use, not first team matches, therefore these surfaces drop in standard very quickly. Players in the Championship, League 1 and League 2 ask for a quicker turnaround when replacing the artificial surfaces they play on.”
