3G? Perhaps three cheers for the way forwardLast weekend, I found myself watching “The Big Match Revisited” on ITV4. They just happened to be showing Luton Town back in the mid-80s on that famous plastic pitch. It really did look like a massive hockey pitch with the ball bouncing around at pace.
It was only a few years ago, when the then manager of Luton, Gary Brabin, envisaged the return of such a surface, with the Football League stating a clear appetite for it. A few years on and Maidstone United have made the headlines with their innovative 3G pitch.
The story moves on to a new level as the FA are set to back it to be used in the FA Cup competitions from next season. This surely puts the pressure on the Conference, who have objected to it, as the big boys at the FA make such a pronounced stand on the subject.
Let’s be fair, the pitches have moved on since the Luton days. And it would ultimately benefit many clubs in non-league to have “artificial” pitches and to not have to disrupt their fixtures or progress during the season.
This would prevent them from being affected financially as games postponed would hit the turnover on their gates when weather gets the better of their “real” pitches.
Pitch maintenance can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not millions, a year. A complete relaying of the turf can cost an average of £300,000 and, depending on how long a club intends it to last for, anything up to £1 million.
I once played at a non-league club many years ago and the pitch was in the worst condition that I have ever played on.
How the games went ahead, I will never know. Furthermore, the weather often deteriorated during the games and there was a point in one match where the ball got stuck in the mud and the referee had to stop play before, stupidly, deciding to continue.
With the FA allowing Maidstone to persist with their 3G pitch, it will enable them to stage games in extreme conditions. And I believe that with these pitches, the standard of football will most certainly improve.
Today’s top 3G synthetic turf is shown to play like good natural grass – Maidstone’s Fifa-approved pitch testers said that the Gallagher Stadium turf was “as good as Wembley”.
And several years of research on today’s 3G pitches show solid evidence that there is no significant injury risk difference between 3G and grass.
I have experienced playing and training on this surface. And I do feel that the standard of football will improve dramatically, having played on non-league pitches that have been shocking.
Surfaces that were bobbly, boggy, hilly, muddy and wet. Very difficult to play on, to control the ball and to pass it.
One thing that I have found when playing on 3G is the complaints from the lads in the dressing-room the following day. During the winter, we have trained on a 3G facility a few times a week and there were some injuries caused from this.
Tight calf muscles, tight Achilles. It has triggered tendinitis in the knees of a few players, which they have previously suffered only during the summer months. I have also struggled with my lower back after training on these surfaces.
It’s 50-50 in terms of how players rate these pitches and whether it is ideal to play on matchdays.
I honestly don’t like to tackle on it during games, as opposed to the wet, slippery surface of a grass pitch that gives you the ability to slide and avoid an astro-turf burn.
But, perhaps, it is inevitable that the big boys at the FA, eventually, will give it the green light.
Read more at
www.thesecretfootballer.com/articles/the-secret-non-league/16040/3g-perhaps-three-cheers-for-the-way-forward/#Y4BeupkFq8Um5QgR.99
