Hong Kong Premier League side BC Rangers "would not consider moving away" from its new home ground
at Kowloon Bay Park "despite calls for abandoning the artificial turf,"
the only one of its kind being used for the new HKPL, according to Chan Kin-wa of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Rangers Dir Philip Lee Fai-lap on Wednesday said that "only four matches
had been played there since the beginning of the season and it would be
too early to make any judgment." Lee: "It always takes time for the players to get used to a new type of
playing surface and if we don't use the new ground only after a couple
of matches, it would be too harsh." The 1,200-seat venue in East Kowloon was closed last season, "replacing
its natural grass with the artificial turf." But it is not the "first
artificial pitch" in top-flight football. The Hong Kong Football Club,
another artificial pitch, "had been used for games in the previous First
Division and there had been no problems reported." Wong Tai Sin coach Poon Man-chun said the artificial turf "would be
dangerous after some players complained it would be easier to be
injured." He said that officials "should consider moving all the matches away
from the Kowloon Bay venue" (SCMP, 12/11).
