Source: FOOTYMAD
Pitch Perfect At Falkirk
Or else as good as it can be following the winter we have suffered Falkirk manager Steven Pressley is "infuriated" by the events which led to their pitch being inspected by the SPL ahead of tomorrow's game against Celtic. This is not a sight I want to see: Pressley infuriated. I bumped into him at the Falkirk Stadium ahead of Scotland Under 21's game against Azerbaijan and on his night off he looked furious. It has been suggested that Celtic sparked the inspection by raising concerns to the SPL over the playing surface. The SPL sent independent expert Bill Gillespie to the Falkirk Stadium on Thursday where the pitch was passed fit for Sunday's game. Pressley said: "I believe they were very happy with the standard of the pitch and so are we. It infuriates me to be perfectly honest because I've seen groundsman Jim Dawson working on that pitch until 12 o'clock at night. He has been groundsman of the year in the SPL for two out of the last three years and he's been voted third in the UK. We've all had to endure a difficult winter and we all don't have the finances of Celtic and Rangers to change certain aspects of our pitch. But the pitch is great, I watched the Under-21 game on Tuesday and it was absolutely fine. If it was suitable for an international game, it will be suitable for the game this Sunday." The SPL's pitch inspection programme has been highlighted following the governing body's warning to Motherwell last week over the state of the "inadequate" Fir Park pitch, which hosted Kilmarnock days later following remedial work. Other pitches have suffered amid Scotland's worst winter for 30 years with Hibs striker Derek Riordan warning that the Easter Road pitch could cost his team a place in Europe. Pressley went on: "This winter has been one of the worst for some time and especially in terms of the frost. We've hardly been on our training pitch for the last three months. In order to get games on you have to have undersoil heating on, which has an adverse effect on the grass. You can't have it both ways, getting the games on and also having your pitch in perfect condition. That's a fact of life but, when you take into account what we have had to endure, our pitch is in great condition." An SPL spokesman said: "We keep an eye on all our pitches and monitor them over the course of the season. The weather has had an impact on pitches up and down the country but, as things stand, all our games are good to go this weekend." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is Scottish-Fitba.Net
