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Nothing is more apt at the moment than the grass versus 3G debate. Not from the point of view which is the better surface for the game to be played on, but the weather for last few weeks and months has caused huge postponements and will see some sides face four games a week to finish the season by the end of April.
Grass pitches are struggling for all manner of reasons, notably a lack of investment and care given to most of them. Growing up my late father looked after the pitches for the local village side, self-taught at how to look after them before, during and after the season ended.
Needless to say they survived nine months of hard rigour, we’re going back about 30 years at least here when pitches were played in in far worse conditions that they are today, games in that era wouldn’t survive in today’s climate.
I can still remember a lot of what he treated pitches with and what equipment would help air the pitches to maintain maximum usage and reduce the amount needed to repair come the end of the season.
I prefer grass, it’s what the game was built upon. Like many others there is a place for 3G within the game, a use as a community hub for financial benefit is welcome everywhere, training purposes for many.
But when we get to the weather we’ve had just recently the call for these pitches gets louder. Using them just to get a game on every other week sees no benefit for the outlay. Imagine using that money over a number of years to actually improve a grass surface instead.
Now I’m not just talking about the top layer, because the real issues come from the lack of good drainage underneath that just allows the water to sit on top and waterlog the pitch. It seems easy enough to abandon grass whereas proper investment would still give the same opportunity as a 3G surface.
Of course you won’t beat all weather’s, snow and ice will still render a pitch unplayable but proper maintenance of a grass pitch would keep matches on when it comes to what we are experiencing now.
When you consider it costs around £250,000 or more to put a 3G surface down and all it’s components underneath you have to ask why that money can’t also be used by clubs to repair and fund a better grass pitch, it seems all too easy to just go down the 3G route.
Many will disagree I know, as previously said above there is a benefit to them for some purposes, but just disregarding grass because it seems expensive to repair isn’t right for me.
Clubs are quite happy to spend money on playing staff and the like, but in some cases loathe to spend on the things they really need like the pitch and facilities around them.
There are still some really good pitches out there, some really good grounds people to get information out there to others and something that I feel need’s to be explored a lot more, after all if you want to be an EFL club then the 3G goes as soon as the promotion party is over.
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What’s your opinion? Are you a 3G fan or is the grass still the way forward for you? Let me know in the comments below.
0 comments
I think we all prefer grass, but the advantages of 3G/4G over grass to non league clubs is immense. It gives a 7 day a week money maker, no postponed matches and if you listen to Chesterfield supporters an advantage of making you play like the famous 1970 Brazil team.
I’d like to see how much via some research that if the same amount of money was spent on grass surfaces and not just the top layer which is not the only important part , whether it would provide a season on grass? If you look at a lot of clubs they have just as many sides playing on their surface through the season, just less of a hire out during the day.
The advantage stops though Rob when the EFL comes calling, something Bromley will have to deal with potentially in 2 months time, it’s certainly cost Sutton Utd a heck of a lot of money for their promotion however.
The other issue is I understand the toll on playing on 3G for the home players and why some clubs with it have a higher injury rate. As for playing on grass, (not that we would want to back) but I remember when by this time of the year the only grass at Underhill was a small patch around each corner flag, those were the days.
There certainly are some players who have to be managed when it comes to 3G surfaces, we know only too well at Barnet.
This website reckons it costs £5500 a year to maintain a 3g pitch. I must add that personally I don’t like them.
https://www.bookteq.com/3g-pitch-maintenance-essentials-and-expenses/
I wonder how that compares to the cost of maintaining a grass pitch over the course of a season added to the summer work done.
At Marine having a 3G pitch has made a big difference financially, it can be hired out every day and the reliability of not having any postponements at home has been great too. However we wouldn’t have been able to afford it without our FA Cup run, the money from that paid for it so for most clubs at this level it won’t be financially viable I imagine. For me the positives far outweigh any negatives, especially as the chance of us reaching the EFL any time soon is basically zero so no risk of having to rip it up again.
It certainly helps with income on a regular basis no doubt, clubs have certainly suffered over the past few months. My question is though, the pitches have a certain lifetime don’t they, what happens when they need replacing because I know that isn’t cheap either?
I don’t know much about the lifespan/cost of replacing the pitch but can only assume the money gained from hiring it out goes a significant way to covering the costs, otherwise it wouldn’t have been the best way to invest the cup run money. Added factor possibly that attendances increased significantly after the cup run too, so we have more income generally to afford things we couldn’t before.
I know Maidstone Utd are replacing theirs this summer, but would have struggled to raise the finance without the current FA Cup run. I would hope clubs keep money aside from the hire, different kettle of fish I know from the National League to Step 3 in terms of outlay on a season.
I’m not against 3G surfaces, they have a great purpose for the game and many of us would have been sat at home on Saturday afternoon instead of watching some football!
I’m becoming more of a fan given the amount of last minute called off announcements on grass. I wouldn’t want to see grass go at Championship or PL level but am not sure it makes sense for lower league teams to stick with grass.
Is that more because clubs deem it unimportant to invest money into their surface and what is underneath it? The call off announcements are a separate blog on it’s own, that needs it’s own set of rules!
Agree!!