Motherwell pipped by Rangers to pitch of the season as Fir Park surface 'highly commended'
The Steelmen have been recognised in the inaugural
Motherwell's Fir Park pitch has been recognised as one of the best in the country in the William Hill Premiership Pitch of the Season awards.
The North Lanarkshire side installed a hybrid pitch in 2022 after significant investment and their efforts over the last few years have led to them being 'highly commended' by the SPFL in the awards' inaugural season.
The home of Rangers, Ibrox Stadium, came out on top in the ratings, with Aberdeen's Pittodrie surface also high commended alongside the Steelmen.
Motherwell chief executive, Brian Caldwell, said: 'This is recognition for all the hard work Alan [Carlin], Derek [Young] and their team put in, on a daily basis, to maintain the playing surface at Fir Park.
'It's great that they have been recognised for their exceptionally hard work. The pitch has been in magnificent condition for the entirety of the season, and that is a credit to their efforts and dedication.
'With the pitches now being monitored by the SPFL's pitch consultants, Propitch, this has raised the standards of all the grass pitches across the top-flight. There has been significant work and expenditure to achieve and maintain the high standards we have set for our playing surface. It's great news that this has been recognised.'
Head Groundsman, Alan Carlin, added: 'I want to thank Derek Young, James Gray, Steven Drummond and all the staff who help us on matchdays for their continued hard work to maintain the playing surface at Fir Park and at the training facilities.
'They work around the clock, all year round, to ensure the players have a professional pitch to play football on at the weekend. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Brian Caldwell and the Executive Board for their continued support, which has allowed me to purchase the correct appliances.
'Although the season is drawing to a close, the work begins to ramp up for us during the off-season. This is the part many people don't see behind the scenes, and it shows the dedication the staff at the club have to producing a surface they can be proud of.
"It's nice for everyone to receive this recognition, as it's thoroughly deserved.'
A statement from the SPFL read: "Rangers, Aberdeen and Motherwell have all been recognised in the inaugural year of the SPFL's partnership with ProPitch.
"In a bid to drive up standards of the natural and hybrid pitches in the William Hill Premiership, the league began working with the leading pitch consultancy firm at the start of the 2024/25 campaign.
"Based on data from three pitch assessments over the course of the campaign, ProPitch awarded Rangers with the William Hill Premiership Pitch of the Season prize. Aberdeen and Motherwell received a highly commended award for their surfaces.
"The SPFL's partnership with ProPitch has been extended and will also include William Hill Championship clubs in season 2025/26."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Celtic transfer explosion as Balikwisha talks 'personal terms', striker on brink and Angulo brings the house down
The Premiership champions are racing ahead in their pursuit of fresh arrivals with three wingers linked Persistent Celtic have restarted talks with long-term target Michel-Ange Balikwisha with discussions over personal terms underway – according to a leading report in Belgium. The Royal Antwerp winger has been on the Parkhead signing radar over the previous two windows and now the former Red Devils' U21 star is expected to leave his homeland this summer. Now signing insider Sacha Tavolieri states the Premiership champions have triggered dialogue with the coveted wide man. Balikwisha directly addressed Celtic earlier this year but admitted his injury issues kiboshed any potential switch to Glasgow. Celtic are honing in on fresh impetus in wide areas with Jota out for the long term and fellow starter Nicolas Kuhn widely expected to attract interest from elsewhere in the coming months. And that means Balikwisha isn't the only winger on the agenda with fellow Jupiler Pro League star Nilson Angulo attracting interest with reports in Belgium claiming Celtic had an initial bid tossed out. The 21-year-old started Ecuador's gutsy 0-0 draw away to Peru which sealed their qualification for the World Cup in North America. And now Anderlecht are braced for fresh interest in a player who has enjoyed a stratospheric rise since leaving him homeland in 2022. Another winger who could also be back in the mix is Sondre Ørjasæter with Sky Sports claiming the £7m-rated Sarpsborg star remains high on the agenda. Boss Brendan Rodgers appears to be getting the front-foot window he craves with Kieran Tierney signed, sealed and delivered and Ross Doohan soon to follow as the third-choice goalkeeper after Scott Bain's exit. And the next signing appears imminent with Callum Osmand set to sign a long-term deal after being tempted north from the Fulham B team. The Wales youth international turned heads last season but will join the Premiership champions despite being wanted to become a part of the Cottagers' first team. Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond. You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. We're also WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to your phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here.
Daily Record
10 hours ago
- Daily Record
SFA president demands football banning orders for yobs as he reveals rule changes to help thugs crackdown
Mike Mulraney has spoken out after a spate of ugly incidents during last season SFA chairman Mike Mulraney has called for a crackdown on Scottish football 's yobs with more banning orders dished out by the courts. The football supremo is furious after a series of flashpoints last season and believes the only way to tackle the menace is more football banning orders - which can see thugs barred from all UK stadiums for up to ten years. Mulraney said: 'What I'd say there is that there is a difference between loving your club and expressing that with vigour and exhilarating fashion and so forth, and chucking a seat. 'It's straight forward. It's criminal. The problem for me at the moment with the flares and so forth is there is no jeopardy to doing that. 'Until there is jeopardy for action you tend not to be able to change people's behaviour. So if we want to change behaviour we need banning orders. When you get banning orders, people won't do it because they don't want to be banned.' Our national game saw a meteoric rise in unwanted flashpoints last season. Former Aberdeen defender Jack MacKenzie was whacked in the face by a seat thrown by his own fans on the final day of the league campaign at Tannadice. While missiles and other objects were thrown on to the pitch during three Old Firm league matches in succession. And before last December's Premier Sports Cup final, fans of both Celtic and Rangers ran riot in Glasgow city centre. At the Edinburgh derby on Boxing Day, a Hearts supporter was ejected from Tynecastle and arrested in relation to an alleged incident of racism. And the continuing use of pyro by fans all over the country continues to give authorities a major headache. But the latest figures for the season just finished show that just five fans were hit with FBOs. This is a marked drop from 37 in the 2023/24 season and 59 in 2022/23. In the last decade across Scotland, a total of 504 FBOs have been issued with Rangers and Hibernian supporters topping the table - much of which related to the pitch invasion after the 2016 Scottish Cup Final. There is now support at government level for enforcing more FBOs and Mulraney believes it has to happen. He stated: 'Right now there is no jeopardy. I believe the Scottish Government is supportive of our view on this now. I believe the police are supportive of our view on this now. 'We're football, we can't go and sort that out. We need the judiciary to sort that out and if they need to tweak the wording on the legislation, tweak the wording on the legislation, that's their game. 'For me, it's really simple. At this point in time, misbehaviour seldom carries jeopardy. 'There is almost no jeopardy for misbehaviour. It's about protecting those who are not guilty of anything. Everyone's forgetting about them, the 99.8 percent of fans who wouldn't dream of doing it. Who's looking after them? 'Instead of everybody asking us to focus on the 0.2 percent, the real question should be 'what are you doing to protect all these people who are not breaking the law?' At the last Old Firm game in April at Ibrox, a bottle was thrown at Celtic keeper Viljami Sinisalo with Rangers substitute Neraysho Kasanwirjo - who had been warming up nearby - entering the pitch to remove it. Sinisalo said other items were directed towards him. 'First of all, I was hit with something in my lower leg,' said the Finn. 'It wasn't just a bottle, there was lighters, vapes, coins, mugs, all sorts. 'Let's say that glass bottle hits me or hits someone else, what happens next? What if it hits you in the eye and you can't play football after that. Those are the questions that we need answers for.' When Rangers and Celtic met at Ibrox in January, an object was thrown from the crowd and struck visiting midfielder Arne Engels, who required treatment. 'It's not the first time it's happened,' added Sinisalo. 'I was there when Arne was hit, [team-mate] Greg [Taylor] has been hit, [former Celtic keeper] Joe Hart's been hit, staff members have been hit. 'It's up to the authorities and the club there. I'm just glad I never got hit because things could be bad if you get hit.' During the same game a Celtic fan was also filmed mocking Ibrox disaster victims. There has been a huge debate over the use of pyrotechnics and smoke bombs. A lot of the ultras' scene want to be given the green light but Mulraney said that won't happen because they are illegal within stadiums. He stated: 'They've made the law. They've said it's illegal. On you go. I'm not the police nor should I be and I think that's important as well. 'People have got to remember that. Those who say we need football to do more outside the stadiums. 'We cannot ever be allowed to be the police of society, for there is the road to damnation for a society. "My job is to protect the fans who don't want it to happen. 'My job is to protect the fan with asthma who's standing three seats away from the guy who's smoking him out and he's leaving the game. 'It's for the government and the judiciary to instil jeopardy and it's for me to put pressure on them. 'I can ask for a banning order but if they don't do it there's not a lot I can do about that other than keep and put pressure on to make it happen. 'So we're changing our rules to improve the position that we can and we will support the police, the government and anyone else who's interested in installing some form of jeopardy behind the law of the land that they've already made.'
Scotsman
10 hours ago
- Scotsman
The man driving the Rangers revolution - 'make some hard and fast decisions'
Thelwell comes in from Everton with a clear remit at Ibrox Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Born in Autumn 1973, Kevin Thelwell is of a vintage that he vividly remembers when Rangers shocked the football world to appoint Graeme Souness as player-manager in 1986. Although growing up in the north-west of England in what he has described as an 'Evertonian household', it would have been hard to remain unaware of the Ibrox club's policy around the time of signing some of the best players from the top clubs in England. Indeed, a couple of them were playing for Everton. Gary Stevens and Trevor Steven were among those attracted to Ibrox by wages and the prospect of European football. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It is a different era now, of course. Thelwell has made the circuitous route to Ibrox, via Everton of all places as well as New York and Wolverhampton, having made his mark in the world of football strategy and operations rather than as a professional player, which was the dream. He came through the youth ranks at Crewe Alexandra but failed to make a competitive appearance either there or at Shrewsbury Town, the club he later joined. Kevin Thelwell is Rangers' new sporting director. | SNS Group As Sporting Director at Rangers, he is seeking to revolutionise the club in a quieter way than when Souness implemented his less than subtle strategy in the mid-to-late 1980s. Ideally, though, it will prove as effective in the long-term. The coming weeks will reveal a lot as Thelwell gets to work alongside Russell Martin, the manager who he had a significant say in choosing to take Rangers into a new era. They have already started sifting through the first team squad of 27 players, many of whom fans would suggest have overstayed their welcome. It's been speculated that as many as 12 might be exiting with another 12 brought in to replace them. Players such as Conor Coady, from Leicester City, and Maccabi Tel Aviv striker Dor Turgeman have already been strongly linked. 'I probably wouldn't want to put a number on it in this moment,' said Thelwell, when asked about the extent of the squad overhaul. 'I think clearly there's been some work being done behind the scenes. We've been evaluating and reviewing the current group that we've got. There's some very, very good players in that group. But then also, as at every football club, there's room for improvement, isn't there? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Rangers' 'real opportunity' 'Now that Russell is in as the head coach, we've got a real opportunity now to sit down very, very quickly and talk more about what that group looks like currently and what we need to do going forward. Make some hard and fast decisions and then start to hopefully build a team very, very quickly that helps us to win.' There are clearly players Rangers would rather keep because of what they can do on the pitch, although the new strategic model is hinged on a more sensible approach to selling players at the right time to accumulate the maximum profit possible. Nico Raskin, who has shone for Belgium in recent days, falls into the category of a young player attracting admiring glances and who would attract a decent fee. 'From my perspective, we want the strongest team possible, don't we?' said Thelwell. 'Of course, I think we all understand there's going to be some players that come and also there will be some players that leave. That has to be part of any plan, effectively. But in reality, where we want to be is we want to make sure that by the time that transfer window closes the team looks stronger for the work that we've done during that trading window. And that's what we'll be working on.' Swapping Goodison Park for Ibrox means changing one iconic venue for another. Stadium architect Archibald Leitch's criss-cross balcony motif, as conspicuous at Ibrox as it is at Everton's ground, will make him feel at home. There are some crucial differences, however – principally the pressure to win trophies. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I've been very lucky over the course of my career to visit Rangers and Ibrox many, many times,' said Thelwell. 'Clearly, it's a huge club with an unbelievable fan base. The atmosphere when things are going well here is like no other place. I'm very lucky that I've experienced an unbelievable football club most recently in Everton. Goodison is very, very special, but Ibrox is very, very special as well.
