notbitter Posted March 18, 2013 Report Share Posted March 18, 2013 Just wanted to canvess ideas and opinions about the use of 3g pitches as an alternative playing surface when grass pitches are unavailable because of waterlogged pitches. My club, LC Phoenix, have offered to hire a 3g pitch at least twice this season when our home pitch has been waterlogged only for the opposition to refuse this option. With so many games being cancelled because of bad weather over the last couple of seasons, is this an option more clubs need to consider, or does an artificial surface have no place in an 11 a side competitive game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjs Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 I'm all for it. It's a true playing surface. We have access to a 3g pitch all year round yet the only times sides seem happy to play on it is pre season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulo bestiniho Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 I used to play for a team who had a 3G pitch to use whenever they needed it and the amount of teams that used to refuse was ridiculous. I'm all for the pitches! There always flat, the lines are clear and you can play good football on them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stokefan1 Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 sorry especially at this stage of season teams should be grateful to get such an offer and agree straight away heard we may be playing on one at weekend at penwith looking forward just getting another game under our belts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S Abbo Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 3G pitch.. Yessssss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premier Sixes Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 P6's home pitch is a 3g astro. Teams have never refused to play on it and as far as I am aware do not have the choice to refuse as A) it is our full time home pitch and B ) was passed fit by the Duchy league. Virtually every team that has played on it has commented how good it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammo 66 Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 Ok here goes have played on three different artificial pitches and can say the same thing about all of them . Bloody awful , and I'm so glad that I have now retired from playing if they are the future . Never get a true bounce of a ball can't slide tackle which is a important part of the game without losing skin off your leg . Never a true game of football on a artificial pitch in my opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veteran Skipper Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 I played on Queens Park Rangers artificial pitch in 1988, that surface was bloody horrible!! Played on several since, and the 3g pitches are very good. It does take a while to get used to the bounce though, and personally I think this gives the home team an advantage as they should be used to it. If you can pass a ball properly, its a great surface to play on, however, I would prefer to play on grass myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggreengiant Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 Why is everyone complaining about the bounce..... If ure good enough and play properly everyone noes u meet the ball before it bounces........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Manning Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 Veteran Skipper, in the eighties I referee`d on the QPR pitch it was worse than your quote, I also have played on several and have to admit I do not like them, for me you do not get a proper game of football as sammo 66 posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Stelling Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 Teams that don't look to get the ball down and pass it around won't like it where as the better footballing sides will love it. At this stage of the season any team turning down the opportunity to get a game played should have a look at themselves. These pitches have been designed to replicate the bounce of how a top grass pitch should play. Too many people are used to the mud bath, pot hole ridden slopes that hold the ball up and let you get away with a poorer first touch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammo 66 Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 I would turn down these pitches every time . Unfair advantage to teams who constantly play on them compared to a away team that would play on it once a season . Also more injuries picked up on surface with very little give in it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BenTheYeti Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 I may be making a daft assumption here, but don't most Junior teams train on 3G Pitches these days? In this area there are the two in Penzance and the one at Cornwall College. Personally, I've been training on 3G pitches for at least 5 out of the last 7 seasons. So surely most teams must be accustom to the conditions they bring, and surely it would be easier to play on them on a Saturday afternoon rather than under the floodlights of a mid-week evening? I don't go along with this "real football" philosophy, at the end of the day, none of us are exactly world beaters, and there comes a time when every team will resort to "If in doubt, give it some welly". But to suggest that you can't play football on a surface which is flatter and straighter than a ruler, and will always have a consistent bounce throughout the 90 minutes, is tosh really. How many threads have we had on this forum in the last 6 months bemoaning the lack of football due to the weather and slating pitches for being in terrible condition? At the end of the day, when Saturday comes, all we all want to do is play football, and not one of us can say we've played on a carpet like surface of plush grass every week (unless you play for St Day perhaps..). There's no need to suggest that the future of football is artificial surfaces, but if we insist on destroying the real pitches we have at our disposal, it may be the only way forward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billings Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 I play for St Minver in duchy 3, and we have been training on the 3G pitch up at Camelford. Can't beat it in my opinion and look forward to training every week because of it. No excuses for sh*t passing etc etc. Also played on the P6 pitch too. Can't fault the stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulo bestiniho Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 Truro college have an astro to. A lot of people come on here and moan about 3/4 weeks without a game but would turn Down playing on astro. As a goal keeper for a team who conceed a few goals over the last few seasons and had to dive around a lot there's no difference in damage between diving on the astro and diving on the hard stone ridden pitches in summer. Agree with Jeffs statement teams that rely on there physicality and prefer to kick people than the ball would not enjoy that surface. I think both west Cornwall and premier sixes have both been beaten at home on there own astro pitches as have penwith exciles this year suggesting home team doesn't always have an advantage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Stelling Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 I would turn down these pitches every time . Unfair advantage to teams who constantly play on them compared to a away team that would play on it once a season . Also more injuries picked up on surface with very little give in it . Just to play devils advocate and look at it from the other side of the coin. Surely there's an argument to suggest that a team who train pre season and then week in, week out on astro turf are then at a disadvantage when they have to turn up and play on some of the cabbage patch pitches on a Saturday that don't allow for much football to be played? At the end of the day every team should have a slight advantage at home as they are used to playing on it every week, whether that be astro, a perfect grass pitch, a massive slope of a pitch, narrow, wide etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAPPO Posted March 19, 2013 Report Share Posted March 19, 2013 Must admit I played on the old sandy Astro pitches of yesteryear and they were not a pleasant experience!!! Remember playing a pre season friendly against Harrow Borough up there scoring a diving header and took all the skin off my forehead, end of my nose, chin, chest, and both knees!!! 25 years later and we play Penwith on it last Saturday and it was an absolute pleasure to be honest, true bounce, bit of give in the surface, would highly recommend it to anyone, the new 3G pitches are a different world these days, lovely jubbly :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Marks Posted March 20, 2013 Report Share Posted March 20, 2013 yeh Titans train on the astro at college superb surface, no advantage to the likes of west cornwall, if your team can get it down and play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 20, 2013 Report Share Posted March 20, 2013 Must admit I played on the old sandy Astro pitches of yesteryear and they were not a pleasant experience!!! Remember playing a pre season friendly against Harrow Borough up there scoring a diving header and took all the skin off my forehead, end of my nose, chin, chest, and both knees!!! 25 years later and we play Penwith on it last Saturday and it was an absolute pleasure to be honest, true bounce, bit of give in the surface, would highly recommend it to anyone, the new 3G pitches are a different world these days, lovely jubbly :-) "Sir Rappo" is there anywhere you haven't played? Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAPPO Posted March 20, 2013 Report Share Posted March 20, 2013 Been around a bit Ralph!!! :-) I'm pretty ancient tho mate!! :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BenTheYeti Posted March 20, 2013 Report Share Posted March 20, 2013 The astro park at Penzance is like that, I still have a scar on my elbow from training for Penwith College 12 years ago! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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