Latest news with #artificialpitch
BBC News
a day ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Martindale welcomes 'newest version' of artificial surface
David Martindale says criticism of Livingston's artificial surface has been "unwarranted" but is looking forward to welcoming opponents to a new improved one in the coming West Lothian club's pitch is being upgraded this summer and the Livingston manager points out that it is the "newest version of our surface and Falkirk's", which has received some praise."I know everybody talks about it not being a good surface, but that probably comes from watching and not playing on it," he said of Livingston's has lost captain utility man Jamie Brandon to Kilmarnock but brought in four new players - winger Graham Carey from St Johnstone, defender Shane Blaney from Motherwell, plus forwards Connor McLennan and Zak Rudden from Ayr United and Queen's Park striker Stevie May has signed permanently after last season's loan from St Johnstone."I thought it was important to get as much Premiership experience in as we can," Martindale told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound. "They are all boys who have played in the Premiership and I'm giving some of them the opportunity to continue to do that but also giving some of them the chance to get back to the Premiership."Martindale admits his side will be slightly "undercooked" when the season starts with the League Cup group sections because they will be "a week to 10 days" later in starting pre-season because of playing in the Premiership Play-off final. "I've been involved in some big games with Livingston previously, but that tops the lot for me," he said of the victory over Ross County."In the manner of going behind, how we won the game, it was just a great way to end the season. I think it was a really good game of football for the neutral, but I think it was really good for Scottish football in terms of the play-offs - it is one of the formats that work."
BBC News
08-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'No doubt it's an advantage' - why Bodo's pitch is generating headlines
With Tottenham playing at Bodo/Glimt in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final, the noise around artificial pitches has been the past, Manchester United defender Luke Shaw has called the surfaces "dangerous" and former Spurs manager Jose Mourinho blamed the pitch for an injury to his defender Gianluca Mancini when his then-Roma side lost in a Conference League game in 2022. For his part, Bodo defender Odin Bjortuft believes the pitch will help his side as they try and overturn a 3-1 first-leg deficit."There's no doubt it is an advantage for us," said Bjortuft. "We train on this pitch every day. I don't think a lot of teams are prepared for what's coming."It's a big difference between artificial and grass in many ways but the main one is that the ball goes so fast."Artificial pitches tend to be harder than real grass, which can increase the risk of injury to players as turning is made harder on the knees and ankles because of the tougher ground and falls can lead to heavier, more damaging impacts. These pitches are common in Northern Europe, where cold temperatures mean maintaining true grass surfaces to a high enough standard is very have been banned in the professional game in England since 1998, though there are more than 5,000 across the UK at amateur the criticism from those playing and managing on the surfaces, research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, external concluded there was no evidence of a greater risk of injury on artificial turf when compared with natural performance issues are not the only concern plastic pitches bring. Artificial surfaces are also considered a significant negative for the more here
