skygod Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 Scotland's professional footballers have voted Hamilton Academical's pitch as the worst in the country. In a survey conducted by PFA Scotland, the Scottish FA and Sports Labs, League Two club Stirling Albion's Forthbank Stadium came out on top. Two of the three lowest-ranked were artificial pitches used by Premiership sides Hamilton and Kilmarnock, while Hampden was considered third best. Accies plan to lay a new surface at New Douglas Park this summer. Throughout the season, players from all 42 SPFL sides rated each surface post-match with a score of one to five on an app called 'Pitch Rater'. Peterhead's Balmoor Stadium finished second, just ahead of the national stadium, which hosts Queen's Park and Scotland matches and major cup semi-finals and finals. "We want to have a proper debate about the level that artificial surfaces should be used," said PFA Scotland chief executive Fraser Wishart. "The results of this survey say the players in the Premiership don't want to play on it. "Of course, as you go down the leagues there is perhaps a place for them but we need to have regulation in place that means clubs are putting aside a sinking fund, money which means they can be replaced sooner because they do deteriorate. "We need to open up a proper debate and club owners and decision-makers have to listen to what the players are saying. "They have voted in numbers to say they don't like artificial surfaces and that is something that should be looked at." Motherwell were the highest-ranking top-flight club in fourth. Hearts' pitch came under scrutiny last month when Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said he was 'embarrassed' by the length of the grass at Tynecastle. The Edinburgh side finished 24th out of the 42 clubs. Premiership champions Celtic came in 11th, with city rivals Rangers ranked 14th. (BBC) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capitalkillie Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 Not unsurprising but our pitch makes for a better game than the coup at tynecastle. -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historyman Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 A bit ironic that Stirling Albion have the best pitch given they were one of the first clubs in Scotland to have an artificial pitch. It would be interesting to see where clubs like QoS and Stenhousemuir are in the whole list but it seems pretty clear that football is best played on grass. I think this season will be our last with our plastic pitch. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrewWylie Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 Wasn't the worst previous season when we got pumped every 2 weeks ---- f**k em 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaker71 Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 Wasn't the worst previous season when we got pumped every 2 weeks ---- f**k em Can’t help but think our turn in form has soured a lot of views against somewhere they used to just turn up and get a win bonus. Now they invariably get sent home to think again and so voted it down. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelhumper Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 (edited) Can’t help but think our turn in form has soured a lot of views against somewhere they used to just turn up and get a win bonus. Now they invariably get sent home to think again and so voted it down. It's not voted on by teams. Edited June 4, 2018 by Squirrelhumper -2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 I would expect a good grass pitch to be better than 3G every time. However, Pittodrie in the winter months this season was a prime example why clubs see the all weather surface as a good option. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaker71 Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 It's not voted on by teams. It’s voted on by players, semantics are irrelevant. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skygod Posted June 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 Can’t help but think our turn in form has soured a lot of views against somewhere they used to just turn up and get a win bonus. Now they invariably get sent home to think again and so voted it down. Actually, I can help but think that... It's a very simplistic viewpoint to say "We win - good surface; we lose - s**t surface" and I doubt that footballers think that simplistically. Try and have a little impartiality. For a club which used to have, by general consensus, the best pitch in the country to be ranked where we are now is very poor. It was a short-sighted decision by Johnston and Bowie which is going to cost the club dear in installing a new pitch and under-soil heating. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 When did we have the best pitch in the country? It's been pretty poor since the sub air system was installed. The first couple of years after the new stands went up, it cut up very badly. Would it be season 98/99? I remember it being pretty decent in the 1st division. Or do we go back to when we used straw instead of tarps to protect the surface? I'm genuinely interested to find out when this was. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpetfitter Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 Exactly. The close to the pitch new stands worsened the pitch. The old RP with the open spaces allowed for ventilation, natural light, drainage etc. The best pitch in Scotland by a country mile. Stirling Albion’s Anfield. Unbelievably bad. A thin layer of green felt glued onto concrete. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skygod Posted June 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 When did we have the best pitch in the country? It's been pretty poor since the sub air system was installed. The first couple of years after the new stands went up, it cut up very badly. Would it be season 98/99? I remember it being pretty decent in the 1st division. Or do we go back to when we used straw instead of tarps to protect the surface? I'm genuinely interested to find out when this was. Before the stadium reconstruction and under-soil heating was installed, probably. In the 60s - 80s it was generally rated the best playing surface in Scotland by the professionals. I think this was the main reason why so many foreign national and clubs trained at RP. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skygod Posted June 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 Stirling Albion’s Anfield. Unbelievably bad. A thin layer of green felt glued onto concrete. Annfield? They have been at Forthbank for years and it seems to have a grass pitch. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4mmy31 Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 (edited) Before the stadium reconstruction and under-soil heating was installed, probably. In the 60s - 80s it was generally rated the best playing surface in Scotland by the professionals. I think this was the main reason why so many foreign national and clubs trained at RP. There was a period probably in the mid to late 70's, possibly even into the 80's, when we went years without having a home game called off, times when the rest of Scottish football was wiped out by the weather conditions. Edited June 4, 2018 by C4mmy31 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 Before the stadium reconstruction and under-soil heating was installed, probably. In the 60s - 80s it was generally rated the best playing surface in Scotland by the professionals. I think this was the main reason why so many foreign national and clubs trained at RP. Thank you 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpetfitter Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 Annfield? They have been at Forthbank for years and it seems to have a grass pitch. Yes Skydog, Annfield. The first artificial surface in senior football in Scotland. It was horrendous. We got beaten on it. Fleeting might even have been manging them at the time. They then groundshared with Stenny where we were also beaten by them before they moved to Forthbank. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraz65 Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 Before the stadium reconstruction and under-soil heating was installed, probably. In the 60s - 80s it was generally rated the best playing surface in Scotland by the professionals. I think this was the main reason why so many foreign national and clubs trained at RP. Did they train on the main pitch? I remember Italy (Baresi et al) using the facilities in the 1990s but thought that it was the training ground that they used. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraz65 Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 Yes Skydog, Annfield. The first artificial surface in senior football in Scotland. It was horrendous. We got beaten on it. Fleeting might even have been manging them at the time. They then groundshared with Stenny where we were also beaten by them before they moved to Forthbank. I was at that game, behind the goals. It was a terrible surface. One of those ones that you would dread even at school football level. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skygod Posted June 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 Yes Skydog, Annfield. The first artificial surface in senior football in Scotland. It was horrendous. We got beaten on it. Fleeting might even have been manging them at the time. They then groundshared with Stenny where we were also beaten by them before they moved to Forthbank. I thought you were referring to their current pitch having been voted the best. Did they train on the main pitch? I remember Italy (Baresi et al) using the facilities in the 1990s but thought that it was the training ground that they used. I'm pretty sure they all trained on the main pitch. It wouldn't have made sense to train on the back park which wasn't the best, for obvious reasons. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Posted June 5, 2018 Report Share Posted June 5, 2018 I thought you were referring to their current pitch having been voted the best. I'm pretty sure they all trained on the main pitch. It wouldn't have made sense to train on the back park which wasn't the best, for obvious reasons. There's that photo in one of David Ross' books where the sheep is watching Brazil? train inside the stadium. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdevoy Posted June 5, 2018 Report Share Posted June 5, 2018 Did they train on the main pitch? I remember Italy (Baresi et al) using the facilities in the 1990s but thought that it was the training ground that they used. The team trained out the back, behind the stadium, in the 1960s when I went there with my autograph book. They may have used the running track around the pitch but not the playing surface itself. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelhumper Posted June 5, 2018 Report Share Posted June 5, 2018 I don't see why folk are getting their knickers in a twist about this vote. The pitch IS pish. It doesn't even look good anymore and anyone who has stood on it/walked on it/played on it will tell you that it is not a good surface. You can get decent artificial pitches but ours isn't one of them. Especially not 3 years down the line. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelhumper Posted June 5, 2018 Report Share Posted June 5, 2018 The team trained out the back, behind the stadium, in the 1960s when I went there with my autograph book. They may have used the running track around the pitch but not the playing surface itself. They trained out there until the early 00s. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonbon19 Posted June 5, 2018 Report Share Posted June 5, 2018 I remember Motherwells pitch being a quagmire not so long ago . Be interesting to see how they turned it around 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelhumper Posted June 5, 2018 Report Share Posted June 5, 2018 I remember Motherwells pitch being a quagmire not so long ago . Be interesting to see how they turned it around Their pitch is unreal now. Think they took some of the slope away, so that may play a role. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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