I think anither 4 or 5 NLN teams have plastic pitches.
As NI alludes to there are different levels of pitch around depending on age and costs. The one at Ilkeston is 4g and I was told only Liverpool and England (St George’s Park) have pitches of the same standard. Albeit on a dry day that one seemed to play very much like a good grass pitch – no bubbles or uneven bounces. The one at Tamworth is 3g and looks fairly old. You could visibly see the black patches of the base layer where the “grass” has worn away. Hence the bubbles and dodgy bounces. Didn’t look any different to the dodgy ones around when I played 40 years ago.
This quality of pitch has always favoured the home team. Remember the likes of Luton and QPR having great home records whilst having away records nearly as bad as ours in recent seasons.
Tactically Tamworth were lightning quick to challenge our midfield every time they received the ball. The first challenge was always a nudge rather than a tackle. Hence our midfield never got the ball under control enough to get passes going.
The ref gave us free kick for most of these nudges in the first 15 minutes but then decided to let them go. Too busy playing with his cards probably.
