Non-league Maidstone United have welcomed calls from league clubs Accrington Stanley and Wycombe Wanderers for a rethink on artificial pitches.
The Kent-based Ryman League club are currently building a new ground – the first in the country to include a 3G synthetic pitch from the outset. The surface will enable the facility to be used by the club’s first team, their 30 community teams, as well as other local clubs, businesses, community groups and schools.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Accrington’s chief executive Rob Heys said: “There is an income to be gained from hiring the pitch out and money to be saved in maintenance costs and the fact that you can train on it. The community benefit is that you can get people down to the ground seven days a week rather than just 23 times a season for home fixtures.”
Heys’ views are echoed by Maidstone chief executive Bill Williams, a former professional footballer with Portsmouth, West Bromwich Albion and Queens Park Rangers. He said: “For the past few years, we have said that artificial surfaces are the future of the non-league game but it’s great to see clubs in the Football League backing calls for a rethink.
“The greatest obstacle is getting people to see beyond those artificial surfaces that were around in the 1980s and early 1990s. Technology has moved on, so much so that football’s world governing body Fifa endorse these synthetic pitches. We have seen World Cup qualifiers and Champions League matches played on such surfaces.
“For us at Maidstone it is a win-win situation. We are building our first ground in the town for more than 20 years and providing a facility for our teams and for the local community. We simply could not have done all this with a grass pitch.”
Maidstone United are also in the process of setting up an informal association of UK football clubs who play on artificial pitches in order to share latest information on the quality of pitches and exert influence.
Work started on Maidstone United’s new ground this September and the stadium is set to open in time for the 2012/13 season. For more information, visit www.maidstoneunited.co.uk