Kilmarnock’s majority shareholder Billy Bowie has told BBC Scotland that the club plans to get rid of their artificial pitch at Rugby Park by the 2025/26 season.
It’s a move that will undoubtedly be welcomed by most in Scottish football including Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers.
Artificial pitches being used in the Scottish Premiership has been a controversial subject for quite a while. Last season, then Bhoys manager Ange Postecoglou stated that it was his preference that they weren’t in the top flight.
Currently, Kilmarnock and Livingston are the two Premiership outfits that don’t use a grass surface. But the West Lothian side may well be the last club standing on the issue.
BBC Scotland reports information from Bowie that Killie are planning on opening a new centre that will have two full-size pitches, a training complex and a 250-seat stand. They are awaiting final planning approval on the project and hope to begin construction by Spring 2024.
That would then allow them to rip up the artificial pitch at Rugby Park where they play first-team matches, installing a grass surface in time for the 2025/26 season.
What Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has said about plastic pitches
Back in 2018, Rodgers railed against the plastic pitch at Livingston, stating: “I have always said that, for me, the Premiership is the flagship of Scottish football — and there should not be astroturf pitches in it.
“They obviously need to generate money, that’s why they do it. But let’s see if government, if councils, can help the teams that have them find an artificial pitch somewhere else close by — and let the main stadiums be grass. Like I say, we are trying to promote a level and a standard.”
More recently, on his return to Scottish football and ahead of another trip to Almondvale, Rodgers explained how it impacts Celtic’s level of performance.
He said: “It’s the pitch – the speed of the game is a lot slower. If your defence is packed out then in order to move teams around that have low blocks and lots of bodies there, you are relying on the speed of the pitch. Because the quicker the ball moves, the quicker they need to move.
“If it’s a slow pitch, they don’t have to move quite the same. Then that density makes it really difficult. You could put 11 teachers, journalists or bin men in there and it’s a challenge. You have to get over that.”
Clearly, Rodgers will welcome a club looking to move away from such surfaces. If there comes a time when Livingston plan to switch theirs too, the league should also look at imposing a league-wide rule that only grass pitches should be used.
They are not popular across the board. As Scottish football looks to modernise and become a more attractive product, there is no room for unnatural surfaces. Kilmarnock are taking the right step – hopefully their plans are ratified over the coming months.
In other news, Celtic hero Kyogo posts promising update on Instagram after worrying head injury.
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