Caught some of the Inter/Spartak game, which was played on FieldTurf? Any thoughts on it? Can this surface support the style of play Arsenal commit to? Southern England obviously doesn't need it, but it may be considered by clubs who play further north.
I would imagine they might go to theis type of surface in maybe 5-10 years. Some pitches are so poor that they change the game. Thats not about football and the best team winning. The new style "turf" is very grass-like... its being used in the NFL and in baseball... I prefer a real grass pitch, but there are teams that have horrendus' pitches... and thats not acceptable.
Field Turf is a massive improvement over the old astro-turf in that it doesn't cause the injuries that astro-turf did. From an NFL standpoint, it kind of looks like grass (especially from the upper deck) and I suppose it's easier to maintain than a real grass field. From a soccer standpoint, it's still a disaster. The Red Bulls play on it, as does RSL and it changes the game in a very unappealing way. The surface is just too fast, the ball doesn't bounce right on it and if it plays hell with a possession oriented, attacking team like DC United it sure as hell wouldn't work for Arsenal and its crisp passing game.
It's also simply not that good. Field turf still turns into an oven on a warm day and rug burn's still very easy to get. It won't wipe out your knees the way Astro Turf did, but let's not kid ourselves it's better over grass.
Field turf is nice for youth leages so more games can be played on it without it falling apart after the first week but for professionals who play two games a week on a pitch max its just not good.
Philly had Field Turf the last couple of years before Veteran's Stadium closed. It's crap. A little better than Astro Turf, but apparently not much.
Exactly. I play on field turf in one of the leagues in which I play. Compared to a lot of the fields around.....it's tons better. To those saying that it's not much better than astro-turf.....I'd ask if you've ever played on it.....not trying to be snippy....just curious. Because, IMHO, it's miles better than astro-turf and totally understandable for youth leagues that don't have the money for constant upkeep of grass pitches. All that being said......no professional teams should play on it....MLS included.
Oregon State used to have Astro Turf and now we have Field Turf and its miles better. However footy needs to be played on grass. Teams just need to do a better job of maintaining their pitches.
I've played on both and to me Field Turf was better, but it's still turf (or maybe it was just better because it was newer than the Astro Turf that I had played on). When they got it in Philly (for football and baseball) a lot of the players still complained about it. For kids and weekend warriors, I don't think that it makes much of a difference. Professional athletes stilll seem to have problems with it though, so that's what I base my opinion on.
from an amateur's perspective, Field Turf is about 58.4 times better to play on than your average high school grass football field.
If field turf is put down properly it can be great. I havent played a game on astro turf but I have practiced and it wasnt fun having the ball bounce 4 times higher than normal. Sure I would love to play on a pristine grass pitch every week but it does not happen like that. I can understand Russian teams going to field turf but that should be last resort IMO.
I agree that in rec leagues and on feilds that have a lot of games played on them it works well, but in a professional league it should not be used. The playing characteristics are too different from real grass and would give an unfair advantage to whichever team uses it as a home field since they would be used to the quirks that it has. I personally hate playing on feild turf, it is way too fast of a surface, if there is any hint of moisture the ball just takes off like it is a slip and slide. Plus the fact that it heats up in warmer weather making it uncomfortable to play on and add in the inability to tackle without getting rug-burns. These are some of the reasons why I hate feild turf... ...plus I hate hiving to clean out those damn rubber pellets out of my boots after I am done playing.
You were lucky, I had to play in't'middle o't'road, and if I didn't score, my father would beat me when I went 'ome. No idea what the surface is that I play on, it's false and it's full of black particles that all seem to end up in my trainers! But grass is always better IMO
Still remember the days when QPR and Luton played on it, nobody loved to go there. Although the technology today may improve the quality of it. Still, unless every team in the world playing in it, it put the teams who have an artificial pitch at home in disvantage - just imagine one week playing at home on artificial pitch, the next week traveling away on playing on grass pitch. The performance of the team would inevitably be affected, at least in terms of consistency.
That sounds like Field Turf which is made with recycled tires. When you watch American football games played on it you can occasionally see a fine layer of black dust get kicked up from the field every now and then.
Sounds like field turf. As I said, pros should never have to play on it. But in rec leagues, it's better than playing on gravel or dirt or partial grass mixed with dirt. The field turf pitches I play on are decent enough that I wear molded boots (as do most of my teammates) instead of turfs when I play.
Well, pretty much like everyone else said, I hate it. It does make economical sense for rec leagues and stuff like that but any team that can manage their own pitch should be able to keep a grass field. From the times I have played on it and from the many mls games ive watched on it, it just ruins the game.
Maybe I'm crazy but I actually preferred the old astroturf to the new field turf. Both made the ball do strange things but I found I could predict what strange thing would happen on the old stuff. However, the new stuff is much better injury-wise; I wouldn't try a hard tackle on the old stuff unless I was wearing a suit of armor. Either way, the pros should play on grass.
Do you guys think field turf would of helped us against Moscow? Their field look like they held woodstock on it the night before.