No SPFL interest in going Dutch
General Sport - Leaders Sport Summit 2012 - Stamford Bridge - 11/10/12 (From left to right) Karen Espelund, Executive Committee Member of UEFA, Neil Doncaster, chief Executive Officer of the Scottish Premier league and Heather Rabbatts, Non-Executive Director of The FA during a talk called "Governance: Are you serious?" Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Paul Childs Livepic
There is no appetite among SPFL Premiership clubs to go Dutch and tear up plastic pitches.
This week the Dutch FA (KNVB) announced that part of the money clubs received from the Champions League and Europa League would be used to bring in grass pitches to replace artificial surfaces.
Three out of Scotland’s top 12 clubs play on plastic with managers and players regularly complaining about the quality of play at Kilmarnock, Hamilton and Livingston with concerns also raised about the number of injuries picked up.
At Kilmarnock in February Celtic lost Kris Ajer and Dedryck Boyata to injury in the first half of a 1-0 defeat but there are no plans for changes among the leading clubs.
Speaking to the Daily Record an SPFL spokesman yesterday said: “FIFA allow artificial pitches in their competitions. SPFL Rules follow this principle.
“In the Ladbrokes Premiership, all artificial pitches are subject to rigorous spot-checks, to ensure that all artificial pitches continue to perform at FIFA Quality Pro standard throughout the season.
“It is open to clubs to change the SPFL Rules in this area, should they wish. We have not received any such proposals from clubs to date.”
Next month Celtic have successive matches on plastic, at Livingston on November 11 and at Hamilton on November 24.