Synthetic pitch

Does a synthetic pitch really degrade badly? My pitch condition has went to "Very Poor" and the only option I have to give to the board is to relay the thing. Surely the reason behind having one of these pitches is to negate the need to have to relay the pitch. IRL I'm a season ticket holder at Cliftonville and I have to say the 3G pitch is always in immaculate condition, and I should think so too as it cost around 400K to get the thing installed!

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If they are not properly maintained 3G pitches will deteriorate & unlike grass the damage is generally permanent, worth a post in the bugs forum though as the only circumstance where this should happen is when a club has long term financial problems & cannot afford the upkeep.

Wear, yes. They say they need to be relayed every 3 or so years, depending on how much they're being used. But clubs with artificial pitches tend to use them a lot ... for training, not just for matches - and for the juniors and the kids. Artificial grass tends to be used A LOT. My local club has got one, and they need to relay theirs every 3 or 4 seasons. So upkeep or not, they need to be replaced now and then.

Wear, yes. They say they need to be relayed every 3 or so years, depending on how much they're being used. But clubs with artificial pitches tend to use them a lot ... for training, not just for matches - and for the juniors and the kids. Artificial grass tends to be used A LOT. My local club has got one, and they need to relay theirs every 3 or 4 seasons. So upkeep or not, they need to be replaced now and then.

I work in that industry, and if your club is relaying every 3-4 years they are buying a poor quality material or not maintaining at all! We lay pitches within the FA/RFU framework, and the guarantees on the surface materials are all a minimum of 7 years.

As far as the OP: yes, they do wear, and when they get to a tipping point they tend to deteriorate very quickly, so the condition report you have seen is not necessarily extraordinary.

I am sure you are right, Jari, and that I am just misinformed. Judging by your name, you are no stranger to icey and snowy conditions either, and if the senior team trains on that surface every day, and so does the juniors, and so does the ladies, the ladies juniors, the kids ... and then there's the matches themselves ... that pitch is being used a lot.

But I'm willing to take your word for it.