Are 3G pitches the way forward?

Patrick Corlett • Published 6 May 2010 13:00 0 Comments

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Bob and Gary Breen with 3G turf and grass at The Gore. Picture by Andy Fitzsimons

Football

AS the football season draws to a close many teams have suffered due to fixture backlogs at all levels.

Is it worth considering up-to-date 3G pitches for teams in Step 3 and below?

It could well be, unless the club has ambitions of going further up the non league ladder because the Football Conference and Football League do not allow artificial surfaces. Maybe those leagues should look at changing their rules given the climate change and likelihood of unpredictable winters causing yet more havoc with pitches.

After all, a Champions League final has been played on an artificial pitch at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow between Manchester United and Chelsea so if it is good enough for club football's showpiece match, surely it could be good enough for a Blue Square South fixture?

Having played on a 3G pitch myself in Bournemouth, I can say it is not as if the pitches are like the old style astroturf ones where you can rip up your skin by going to ground as the 3G surface is suited to a slide tackle or a full length diving save by the keeper.

I caught up with experts in the field from Breen Consultants, Bob and Gary Breen after the Southern League had a meeting at Midlands Division outfit Burnham in the spring.

Breen Consultants have worked closely with the Irish FA, met with the English FA and UEFA and FIFA on the matter so they know what they are talking about.

After the Southern League meeting at Burnham's Conference Centre, Bob - who is a director at Burnham Football Club, said: "What we are trying to do is focus the attention back on football turf, not what people know as astroturf. That is a brand now, it's like people might call a Dyson a hoover which obviously they wouldn't be too happy about.

"You talk about QPR, Preston and Oldham but that's when a goalkick could be taken from one penalty area and if no one touched it would hit the advertising boarding at the other end.

"Typewriters are not involved now, it's computers so like anything else, artificial turf has progressed.

"As specialists in our industry we just want to bring it to the fore again. We are not saying it's the answer for everyone.

"You have a lot of community benefits. There's loads of teams that play under the Burnham Juniors banner and if you look at the number of hours you can play on a football turf pitch we could have a game kicking-off 15 minutes after one. That means your bar is full. You could have Burnham v Bury Town and Burnham v Slough Laurencians or whatever in one afternoon."

He added: "There are a lot of clubs that want to consider and discuss it. It's about the one that is brave enough to take that step."

And Gary, who has a banking background, explained the possible benefits: "It was an eye opener to see how football clubs are running. Fundamentally this club (Burnham) and many others haven't got any money.

"You've got a low gate, commercial is dead because of the economy, so basically the football club has no money.

"You look at the clubs' assets, they've got no money so no full time staff for the conferences so you look at the other assets - the pitch.

"Basically it's played on halfway through August and September without any fear of the condition because it's been worked on throughout the summer to get it right.

"Through October, November, December, January and February it's a lottery whether you can nurse the pitch through the inclement weather.

"The reality is that we lost an awful lot of games throughout the winter and now that we get to March, April, you've got a huge amount of games to catch up on, which puts further pressure on a pitch that is already struggling. "The pitch is struggling as an asset. Then after cup finals you don't come on it again until mid August from May."

Gary continued: "Selling it as an 11-a-side and seven-a-side artificial pitch you can easily sell it to 40,000 people, at the moment you are struggling to get a 1,000 on it. All of a sudden 40,000 people are using your bar, your changing rooms, your vending machines. That suddenly becomes a real sell commercially, we are putting people through here and it is about community.

"FIFA's model says that you generate about a thousand people per week, that's 52,000 people a year.

"Even if natural turf is fine, you don't use it 52 weeks of the year.

"You can play on football turf 52 weeks of the year because you don't have to maintain and prepare it over the summer.

"Players can train on it over the summer and knees don't get knackered on the old ground so you can have a more limited squad and the local professional teams are not reluctant to send you their young stars because they know they won't get injured.

"It's really important that the FA and leagues set standards and make sure that they are maintained, it is a no brainer if it is done properly.

"Burnham have never been in the Conference but Slough have and played Birmingham in the FA Cup so it is not for everybody but needs to be seriously considered."

It is certainly a difficult choice but one worth looking at. Clubs would have lots of football driven targets from the football foundation but would be unable to play in the FA Cup or the Football Conference at the moment.

Can clubs like Burnham, Bracknell or Windsor reach the Conference on their gate with their money? How far do they go in the FA Cup?

This article appeared in Royal Borough Observer 07 May 10

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