Andy Barrowman has hit out at the decision to ban plastic pitches in the Premiership after Raith Rovers’ counter-arguments fell on deaf ears.
The SPFL have announced that artificial surfaces will not be permitted in the top-flight from 2026 following a poll of the division’s clubs.
The process has been criticised by clubs outside the Premiership, with the majority of the teams in the SPFL’s next three leagues playing on plastic.
Raith banded together with Falkirk, Hamilton Accies and Queen of the South to put forward an alternative proposal ahead of Friday’s vote.
They insisted the plan to ban artificial surfaces was ‘fundamentally flawed’.
Their statement added that it would ‘cause significant long-term damage to Scottish football by undermining sporting integrity, impacting the wider game and creating huge financial entry barriers to the top league’.
The move has been likened to the one that required clubs to have a 10,000 all-seater stadium during the days of the SPL.
Barrowman said the clubs hoped to ‘spark a debate’, with suggestions including the creation of a grant for teams moving from plastic to grass and stricter rules governing the quality of artificial surfaces.
He insists the cost of up to £1.4 million required to lay a new grass pitch – and the timescale involved for promoted clubs – is simply unworkable for any Championship club
“I think we were resigned to the fact the Premiership clubs were going to go ahead with this as they saw fit,” he said.
‘Spark a debate’
“But the purpose of our proposal was to spark a conversation and a debate, and to properly consider the issue.
“We weren’t saying, ‘don’t go ahead with some sort of resolution, indefinitely’.
“What we were saying was, ‘let’s spend a bit of time and consider things and speak to all the stakeholders, and really form a greater understanding of what this decision will mean.
“In my opinion, I don’t think that has been done.
“I think it’s been a decision the Premiership clubs have wanted to push through and they’ve just gone ahead and done it.
“We just felt it was important that people saw a different side of the argument and that’s why we went public.
“They can form their own opinion – and it might still be that they want them banned. But that’s okay. That’s what we’re all here for, to make the game better.
“We agree that we need to continue to raise the standards, particularly in the top-flight, in Scottish football. That’s the showpiece competition.
“We agree with that. We just don’t think that means artificial pitches don’t have a place within that.”
After finishing second in the Championship, Raith travelled to Dingwall last Sunday still with dreams of winning promotion to the Premiership.
‘Just not possible’
Those hopes were dashed in a 6-1 aggregate hammering from Ross County, but Barrowman has applied that scenario to a couple of years’ time.
“Imagine we’re in 2027 right now and we’ve just won promotion to the Premiership after winning the play-off last weekend,” added the Rovers chief executive.
“And we’re going to start ripping up our artificial pitch to put down a grass pitch.
“It’s just not possible in the time.
“There’s no way we could have pre-planned that because the finances in the Championship don’t allow for a £1.2 to £1.4 million grass pitch to be laid.
“So, you can’t push the button on that until you’re in the Premiership.
“We’re almost in June, the players will be returning in two or three weeks. It literally is impossible to get a pitch in place if you wait to know what league you’re going to be playing in.
“I don’t know how logistically it’s possible for clubs to get it in place if they are promoted.
“I presume the thought is if you’ve got an ambition to go to the Premiership you do it before you get there.
‘Ideal world’
“In an ideal world that would be great, but it’s just not possible on Championship money.”
Ironically, Raith have been getting their Stark’s Park pitch, widely regarded as one of the better surfaces, tested this week.
Premiership clubs are to work with a pitch consultant on driving up the standards of grass surfaces in the top-flight. But Barrowman argues those with plastic are currently held to higher standards.
“Artificial pitches are tested every year – UEFA and FIFA-level testing,” he said. “Ours took place this week. We have to do that as part of our licensing.
“There’s no criteria for a good-quality grass pitch. The criteria is basically is the game playable on any given day?
“That’s decided by a referee who comes out and bounces a ball and says whether the pitch is playable or not.
“That’s the only criteria that grass pitches are held to.
“I know there’s talk of that changing, but there is nothing currently there – whereas there is for artificial pitches.
“So, if we keep going back to standards and raising the quality, that goes against that argument, because there is currently no standard that a grass pitch needs to meet.”
