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3G pitches really are a dreadful surface

Watching tonights game in Lithunia just reinforces what i have previously seen on these pitches.
One of the great passers of a ball Glen Hoddle has mentioned more than once, that the weighted through ball
is damn near impossible on this pitch.
To think that we were one of the clubs who voted for the introduction of these pitches in the Football league
still angers me.

Comments

  • Bang on, Chas. Bloody thing doesn't stop rolling.

  • Contrary to the experience of anyone who's played 11-a-side on these pitches, you can expect the chairman and a former chairman to extol the virtues of the glorified grocer's turf again at a Trust meeting near you soon.

  • I think 3G/4G pitches have a place in football. I saw an FA Trophy game between Maidstone United and Wealdstone a couple of years ago and it was a really entertaining game. For small clubs struggling to maintain a decent grass surface, it does offer an alternative that can be used several times a day for community use.

    Having said that, with the resources available to Football League clubs a decent grass pitch would be preferable. Realistically though, within 10, 20 or 30 years artificial surfaces will be able to replicate grass surfaces to 99.9%. Whilst we're not quite there yet I think we should stick with grass.

    Furthermore, from a WWFC perspective any decision about moving to a 3G pitch (if they were sanctioned by the FA) should be VOTED ON BY TRUST MEMBERS.

  • I totally disagree Mr Worboys, Its been 34 years since QPR installed their astro turf at Loftus Road.
    And bar the reduction of the bounce, minimal progress has been made on these pitches, despite what the marketing men like to portray.
    You lose so much of what makes football the 'beautiful game'on these wholly inadequate and artificial surfaces.
    Agreed any decision must be taken solely by Trust members, and not anyone with vested interests in moving the training facility from Booker to Adams Park if these plastic pitches were approved by the FA.

  • You are wrong Mr ChasHarps. The current 3G pitches are light years in advance of the original artificial pitches and still improving. As secretary of a club who play on the 3G pitch at Bisham Abbey I can assure you they are an excellent surface to play football on and viewing last nights game I saw nothing to detract from the game. For grass roots and lower league football they are the future.

  • I imagine your teams players are not as technically gifted as the England Internationals on display last night.As you could see clearly from Lithuania, they found it almost impossible to play an weighted through balls, the ball constantly running out, turning very difficult.It manifests itself into an artificial game for an artificial surface. I have also played on, and watched numerous games both live and on television of the 3g pitch.
    And have an opinion much closer to what Glen Hoddle was saying last night than yours im afraid Mr MW.

  • Whilst I'm sure the technology is moving on a pace on these pitches I haven't seen that much difference in the running of the ball from the today's pitches to the surfaces used by QPR and Luton in the 80's. The bounce of the ball is much better but it is still really hard to play in a striker behind the back four. Pass and move teams seem to cope ok but surely football is about a variety of styles and 3G pitches constrict these options.

  • Back then the ball even seemed to move differently through the air at grounds with a plastic pitch. Hakan Hayrettin's unforgettable winner at Deepdale being one such (wonderful) example

  • Well Mr ChasHarps I don't hold much store in Glenn Hoddle's pronouncements, he clearly thinks he should still be England manager with his mystical Eileen Drewery and her voodoo magic plus his pronouncements that all disabled people are paying for the sins of a previous life.
    I thought that England performed reasonably well on the 3G and didn't notice any more stray through balls than normal in an England performance. 3G pitch technology is improving continually and is here to stay so better get used to it. WWFC would benefit enormously from having one now, it would solve many of their financial problems without distracting from the spectacle.

  • I think for Wycombe the potential financial benefits of a 3G pitch would far outweigh any negative aspects. So I am in the yes camp. Lets face it, the ball can't spend much more time in the air than it does already!!

  • we can't pass it to feet on a slow grass pitch so imagine what we would be like on 3g

  • Not everyone is a fan of 3G Pitches.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2749990/Gareth-Bales-says-Andorra-pitch-worst-s-played-comes-Wales-rescue.html

    I take it from some of the above that postings that we were Pro 3G at the last vote. These things tend to come round on a fairly regular basis so am guessing there will be another voting process in the not too distant future.

  • @SurreyWanderer Bridge to far for me. Think that would be the end of Football as I know it. Grass it has to be.

  • Have any of you ever played on these pitches? They are absolutely nothing like an old style astro turf surface. Anyone that suggests there has been limited progress in the sophistication of artificial pitches is wrong. In my view we would have seen better football at AP over the last five years had we played on a good artificial pitch rather than the quagmire we've had to suffer from November onward.

  • I guess you look up the definition of quagmire before you next post.
    As our surface was anything but, it was rock hard,bumby and almost impossible to run with due to the lumps and bumps.
    Yes i have played on these surfaces, and have watched live football in Scotland on these artificial bounce along,roll alongs. I also get to see a lot of these pitches on BT Sport, as a fair number of smallers clubs, north of the border have gone down this route due to the far more severe weather they face compared to here in 'Leafy Bucks', much to the anger of friends and relatives i know in Jockland.

  • Today the National league have approved the use of the bob along,bounce along pitches.
    Though they are not quite the cash cows, people think.

    Maidstone United expect to need 3G replacement in next two years http://www.thenonleaguefootballpaper.com/latest-news/conference-south-step-two/14518/maidstone-united-expect-to-need-3g-replacement-in-

  • 50 hours a week on an obsolete version of 3G sounds excessive but hire income, if that sort of usage could be achieved, would be very substantial.

  • I never want us to do this. Its not football!!

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