THE Scottish Professional Football League has been accused of playing the country’s pitches into ‘trouble’ by moving the new Betfred Cup format forward into the summer.
The tournament will commence on July 16 with each team playing four games in a two-week window, as well as any friendlies they may wish to participate in, before the league season gets underway in August.
Paul Matthew, head groundsman at Premiership side Motherwell, insists this change to the calendar will endanger many of Scotland’s pitches by forcing games to be played on them before they are fully ready without any consultation with those charged with their upkeep.
“Can the SPFL do more? Absolutely. If you take the new League Cup games in July, as a groundsman, I couldn’t think of anything worse,” he said.
“There was no consultation with groundsmen, nobody was interested in our opinion as a unit. Nobody asked if there was someone who would speak on our behalf, such as the Turf Care Association.
“Ultimately, we are trying to improve the product. While we get narrow windows after horrendous seasons, including the worst window on record that we are just coming out of, I dread to think what some guys who were in the play-offs are going to do to get their pitches ready.
“People can do the renovations, but it’s about the establishment of the grass to then play football on it. If we shorten the window in the form of the League Cup group games, we are in trouble. Our pitches will be in trouble very early on.”
Starting out as a greenkeeper at Windyhill Golf Club in Bearsden, Matthew went on to serve 10 years at Rangers looking after Murray Park and then Ibrox, before English club Wolverhampton Wanderers took him south. It was this time in England that has highlighted just where we are going wrong in Scotland.
He believes there is a lack of respect towards groundsmen up and down the country left exposed as they attempt to protect their beloved pitches against slack protection rules and abusive opposition staff.
“There is a certain amount of teams in our league that seem hell-bent on dismissing you as an individual for what you are trying to do, and I’m talking about dismissing you in an appalling manner,” said Matthew.
“I’m out there preparing that surface for their guys to play on. I don’t expect to get the abuse that I receive when I ask an individual to stick to a certain rule. I’m left hung out to dry. I need the SPFL delegate with me to enforce the rules.
“The rules are loosely termed and they need tightened up.
“Down south, it was seamless, the players were regimented, but that comes from the coaching staff. The players are just told what to do.
“If we don’t protect our pitches, our football becomes a backwater.”
For Matthew, the respect must start at the very top, starting with our National Stadium. In recent months, Hampden has come under criticism due to its patchy surface and it’s emergency returfs ahead of the League Cup final and the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals.
“The surface is wrong,” he said, alluding to the fact it is a full grass pitch and not hybrid such as the turf at Murrayfield. “It’s short-termism and that’s what is killing our game. How can Murrayfield do it and that’s a minority sport? Our national stadium pitch is not up to scratch.
“It’s not ideal [to bring in turf in winter] because it may not be what you need or want, but it’s all that’s available. The last-minute decision only comes from a pitch that wasn’t fit for purpose to play that amount of games on.
“If it’s not a hybrid pitch with reinforcements in it, it’s not acceptable. Hampden gets a lot of natural light but I know and feel sorry for Stevie, their head groundsman. He is a really conscientious guy with a great background, but no matter how good a groundsman you are, if you don’t put the stepping stones in place, you are beaten in our country.
“At Motherwell, we are on a bit of a journey here. We want people to look at our pitch and say: ‘That used to be one of the worst, now it’s one of the best. How have they done that?’
“We have to raise the profile of groundsmen in this country, and that will have a lovely knock-on effect.”
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