Artificial pitches allowed in all 2014/2015 FA Cup rounds

[Con M]

FA general secretary Alex Horne announced 3G pitches will be allowed in all rounds of the FA Cup from next season.

Horne said clubs with those surfaces can now retain home advantage in the competition. "They are a useful asset and capable of delivering 50 + hours per week as compared to natural turf pitches which can deliver perhaps 5 hours per week" he said. Clubs and communities will benefit with these pitches when addressing fixture backlogs during wet weather Horne said.

There are over 600 good quality artificial pitches in England and the FA are looking to substantially increase that number.

I assume natural turf Wembley will still be the neutral venue for the semi-finals.

GMAE/Hawksey might be unhappy with this news.

[Con M]

FA general secretary Alex Horne announced 3G pitches will be allowed in all rounds of the FA Cup from next season.

Horne said clubs with those surfaces can now retain home advantage in the competition. "They are a useful asset and capable of delivering 50 + hours per week as compared to natural turf pitches which can deliver perhaps 5 hours per week" he said. Clubs and communities will benefit with these pitches when addressing fixture backlogs during wet weather Horne said.

There are over 600 good quality artificial pitches in England and the FA are looking to substantially increase that number.

I assume natural turf Wembley will still be the neutral venue for the semi-finals.

GMAE/Hawksey might be unhappy with this news.

Shall I just assume GMAE/Hawksey is happy with this? Or just had apoplexy?

[God is an Englishman]

FA general secretary Alex Horne announced 3G pitches will be allowed in all rounds of the FA Cup from next season.

Horne said clubs with those surfaces can now retain home advantage in the competition. "They are a useful asset and capable of delivering 50 + hours per week as compared to natural turf pitches which can deliver perhaps 5 hours per week" he said. Clubs and communities will benefit with these pitches when addressing fixture backlogs during wet weather Horne said.

There are over 600 good quality artificial pitches in England and the FA are looking to substantially increase that number.

I assume natural turf Wembley will still be the neutral venue for the semi-finals.

GMAE/Hawksey might be unhappy with this news.

Shall I just assume GMAE/Hawksey is happy with this? Or just had apoplexy?

Didn't even see it until now, disgusting behaviour. To think an FA Cup Quarter Final could be played on a shitty plastic pitch. No official game should ever be allowed to be played on them.

Then again, the FA continue to sell out the game.

[ozzie owl]

FA general secretary Alex Horne announced 3G pitches will be allowed in all rounds of the FA Cup from next season.

Horne said clubs with those surfaces can now retain home advantage in the competition. "They are a useful asset and capable of delivering 50 + hours per week as compared to natural turf pitches which can deliver perhaps 5 hours per week" he said. Clubs and communities will benefit with these pitches when addressing fixture backlogs during wet weather Horne said.

There are over 600 good quality artificial pitches in England and the FA are looking to substantially increase that number.

I assume natural turf Wembley will still be the neutral venue for the semi-finals.

GMAE/Hawksey might be unhappy with this news.

Stupid idea , should be played on grass .

[oldfart]

FA general secretary Alex Horne announced 3G pitches will be allowed in all rounds of the FA Cup from next season.

Horne said clubs with those surfaces can now retain home advantage in the competition. "They are a useful asset and capable of delivering 50 + hours per week as compared to natural turf pitches which can deliver perhaps 5 hours per week" he said. Clubs and communities will benefit with these pitches when addressing fixture backlogs during wet weather Horne said.

There are over 600 good quality artificial pitches in England and the FA are looking to substantially increase that number.

I assume natural turf Wembley will still be the neutral venue for the semi-finals.

GMAE/Hawksey might be unhappy with this news.

Stupid idea , should be played on grass .

They'll be renaming the game 'Carpet Football' soon.

[Nice One Cyril]

FA general secretary Alex Horne announced 3G pitches will be allowed in all rounds of the FA Cup from next season.

Horne said clubs with those surfaces can now retain home advantage in the competition. "They are a useful asset and capable of delivering 50 + hours per week as compared to natural turf pitches which can deliver perhaps 5 hours per week" he said. Clubs and communities will benefit with these pitches when addressing fixture backlogs during wet weather Horne said.

There are over 600 good quality artificial pitches in England and the FA are looking to substantially increase that number.

I assume natural turf Wembley will still be the neutral venue for the semi-finals.

GMAE/Hawksey might be unhappy with this news.

Can't see it making much difference tbh. The number of teams that get through to the later stages, that have plastic pitches, will be roughly ……


….. zero.

[Con M]

FA general secretary Alex Horne announced 3G pitches will be allowed in all rounds of the FA Cup from next season.

Horne said clubs with those surfaces can now retain home advantage in the competition. "They are a useful asset and capable of delivering 50 + hours per week as compared to natural turf pitches which can deliver perhaps 5 hours per week" he said. Clubs and communities will benefit with these pitches when addressing fixture backlogs during wet weather Horne said.

There are over 600 good quality artificial pitches in England and the FA are looking to substantially increase that number.

I assume natural turf Wembley will still be the neutral venue for the semi-finals.

GMAE/Hawksey might be unhappy with this news.

Can't see it making much difference tbh. The number of teams that get through to the later stages, that have plastic pitches, will be roughly ……

….. zero.

Ah Cyril, ye of little faith in the David & Goliath beauty of the F.A. Cup.

I can see a little club with the home advantage of one of these getting to the 4th or 5th round in the future..