Smudge Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 With the British Weather not being condusive to getting an excellent Playing Surface to play on, 3g must be the shout.The F.A. have now given permission for F.A. Cup ties to be played on 3g,up until the First Round Proper.So that is 1 hurdle overcome,for lower Level Clubs,add in the possible income,from having a playing surface,fit for purpose 365 days of the year,plus less maintenance costs,it must be the way forward for many. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncs Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I said this about a year ago on this forum and quite a few people disagreed well when you see how bad the weather is getting in this country I think as I said before it will become part of the criteria for our level and clubs wont get the choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mayor Of Simpleton Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Having seen a video of the Sutton Coldfield v Bolehall Swifts friendly, played this week, I'm not so sure Smudge. Game was abandoned on 77 minutes with Sutton Coldfield 2-0 up, pitch (3G) was unplayable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mayor Of Simpleton Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 You watch - we'll introduce 3G en masse and the weather will change! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncs Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Having seen a video of the Sutton Coldfield v Bolehall Swifts friendly, played this week, I'm not so sure Smudge. Game was abandoned on 77 minutes with Sutton Coldfield 2-0 up, pitch (3G) was unplayable. It was the old surface and not the new 4G which is now available Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewprosser84 Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Having broken my ankle just trying to control a ball on one I'm against them and will never play on one again. The level of grip is far to changeable. My standing foot slipped so my body naturally adjusted itself and then I had instant grip and my body went the other way to my foot and it broke. I was even wearing specific boots designed for those pitches. It was slightly damp. I have also seen plenty of other injuries on these pitches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bomaya Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Wish you didn't have that username. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestward Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I doubt it would be a viable solution for all clubs. It would be a nice target for idiot arsonists, just as a challenge. I watched us play at Hillingdon last season in the sunshine on their 3G and today in overcast conditions against Met Police and last season we lost a player to a bad challenge. There were some stiff challenges today and no-one got hurt. Not sure if the weather makes any difference. How many clubs at our level could afford it? What's the grip like when running downhill at Chessington & Hook for instance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncs Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Sorry fellas but both arguments don't hold water IMO because injuries happen even at Wembley Stadium and on our Premier leagu grounds so in a contact sport which has running and stopping involved you will always get injuries,funds are available for all clubs so as this sort of thing can be implimented I'm afraid the stance the F.A. adopt is one of sink or swim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewprosser84 Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 I would of agreed before it happened to me duncs but the consultant asked what happened I said I was playing football and he interrupted me and said "On AstroTurf?" I asked him if it's common he told me more then you think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncs Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 I would of agreed before it happened to me duncs but the consultant asked what happened I said I was playing football and he interrupted me and said "On AstroTurf?" I asked him if it's common he told me more then you think I'm sorry you got injured IP but it really is an Injuryprone (sorry )sport and even if we played on cotton wool injuries would still occur I think its the change that we are all apprehensive about but I truly believe its the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redrup No2 Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I love 3G, think its wicked but I have knownquite a few people to sustain injures quite easily. I know injuries can happen anywhere but 3 of my pals done cruciates on it because they boots would lock Into the ground. But I'm all for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jertzee Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Wimbledon had three players out with cruciate ligament injuries at the same time, plus about 5 in 3 years...all on grass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Farmie Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 They've carried out thorough studies on comparing 3G pitches with traditional grass pitches and found no difference in the risk of injury. If anything, you're more likely to get an injury on an uneven grass pitch especically in poor conditions (eg. extreme wet/frost). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green_Fingers Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Has anyone evaluated installation / running costs? I read somewhere that they cost £200k to put in plus £50k a year to maintain, so unlikely a Club at CCL level could afford. No doubt grants are available to help though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Farmie Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I would say higher installation and lower maintenance costs than those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mayor Of Simpleton Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Has anyone evaluated installation / running costs? I read somewhere that they cost £200k to put in plus £50k a year to maintain, so unlikely a Club at CCL level could afford. No doubt grants are available to help though. Ask Ludlow Town, it financially shafted them! They are now £300k+ in debt and had to be relegated three leagues from West Midlands Division 1 to Shopshire League Division 1. Their ex Chairman wishes he'd never gone ahead with it, and they may now have to sell their home and hope that they can build a more sensible home stadium in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mayor Of Simpleton Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Speaking of Ludlow Town, this article appeared in the Shropshire Star today: http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2012/07/18/ludlow-town-football-club-goes-into-receivership/ I'm glad that football is (hopefully!) being allowed to continue there though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wattsy Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 When planning on the Feltham Arena rebuild, it was proposed that the 4G pitch would be laid on the main enclosed pitch. This is very expensive to lay yes, I believe it was priced around £325k, but the maintenance costs were no where near £50k. Yes it wasn't going to be cheap to maintain, but the revenue of generated from having such service laid would've more than contributed, if not funded itself. These pitches generate a lot of Money, for example I play on a Monday night at Matthew Arnold school in Staines and the full pitch is split into three at a cost of £33 each pitch (soon to go up to £38). The school is solid with bookings and Mon-Sat and even has a awaiting list for block bookings. We used the same pitch on Saturday for Feltham and it cost £70 for the use of it all for two hours. Pricing for hire does vary where ever you go I guess. I hired one in Slough at a school for a work game against Blackberry last year and the pitch for 90 minutes cost £225. With regards to playing on them, I believe as already mention, there is no proven fact that the service is causing more injuries than grass. I've been playing on it twice a week for about 5 years or more and never had an injury on it, or even felt like I was unsafe. Some people having had their studs caught in the synthetic material, but only because they were wearing the wrong footwear, for example long studs! I believe that in a few, quite a few years, this will be more common and you only have to look at Scotland and their clubs to see this. Nearly every Premiership/Championship club has a facility with this at their training ground and seems to favour them. I really couldn't see that if it was a worrying factor with injuries. Some modern pitches are more dangerous. Look at the Emirates....Classed as one of the best surfaces to play football on and at the same time it's also classed as on of the most dangerous due to it's firmness! This was backed up by the injury rate to many professional players who picked up injuries short/long term after playing on it. Just my two pennies worth, I'm sure this is always going to be an argument that goes on and will divide peoples opinions and thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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