Scottish Premiership Players Condemn Use Of Artificial Pitches

Scotland’s top footballers "resoundingly" condemned the use of artificial pitches in the Scottish Premiership, while their counterparts in the lower leagues "delivered an equally forceful demand that all surfaces should be maintained to the highest level possible," according to Roddy Forsyth of the London TELEGRAPH. The results emerged in a survey carried out by Professional Footballers' Association Scotland, which did not poll its members at Hamilton, Kilmarnock and Livingston, all of which have artificial pitches. The issue has been "highlighted by injuries to several players in recent seasons." The poll did not include players at the clubs which have artificial pitches because it was deemed "unfair to put them in a potentially difficult position with their employers." Besides those exceptions, every player in the Scottish Premiership has signed a petition to "abolish wholly synthetic surfaces" and every club representative in the Championship, League One and League Two signed on behalf of his teammates a demand for all pitches to be maintained to the highest standard possible (TELEGRAPH, 2/14).