Inside crunch SPFL talks as David Martindale reveals Livingston were ORDERED to rip up their plastic pitch
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DAVIE MARTINDALE has revealed Livi were ordered to ditch their much-maligned pitch.
The Lions booked an immediate return to the Premiership by seeing off Ross County in last month's play-offs.
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Livingston boss David Martindale
Credit: Kenny Ramsay
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His Lions team will be back in the top flight next season after their play-off triumph
Credit: Kenny Ramsay
And while top flight clubs voted in 2024 to ban artificial surfaces by the start of the 2026/27 campaign, Livi have just replaced their old plastic pitch with a brand-new MX Elite surface.
While the timing has surprised some, Martindale insists his club weren't given a choice by the SPFL.
Martindale said: "The season only finished a few weeks ago and we didn't have much choice.
"There was a meeting between ourselves and the SPFL and we were told that if we were getting promoted, we'd need to lift our pitch and replace it.
"So we've had a six-week window to try and source a training facility and a playing facility.
"Naturally, that's going to have to be an artificial surface.
"There's no way on earth we could put a grass pitch down, because where would we have trained? And the academy team and the women's teams?
"It wasn't until we knew we were going up that we knew we had to change our surface.
"It was all very last minute. I think long-term, we'll need to look at the strategy.
"But right now, getting told we had to lift our surface and we had to have a new surface to be in the Premiership, there wasn't a lot of choice to be honest."
Livingston boss David Martindale opens his heart on life before, during and after prison.. and the managers he admires most
Livi were yesterday handed a difficult opening day trip to Rugby Park to take on Stuart Kettlewell's Killie on their top-flight return.
The two clubs will also face off in Ayrshire in the Premier Sports Cup group stage.
Martindale told Sky Sports: "We'll be fairly familiar with each other by the opening day!
"It's good to be back into the Premiership and it'll be interesting.
"There's been a lot of change in the year we've been away so we're looking forward to it."
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