Evo Stik Division One North
- Brighouse Town manager Paul Quinn believes 4g surfaces are as good as grass
- Brighouse travel to Burscough on Saturday afternoon.
- Adam Wilson is likely to return, but Tom Haigh, Danny Facey and Steve Hollingworth remain injured.
Brighouse Town manager Paul Quinn
Artificial pitches should be the way forward for Non League football as they create sustainable clubs, according to Brighouse Town manager Paul Quinn.
Quinn’s comments come on the week that clubs in the National League finally voted in favour for the use of 3g pitches in the top tier of Non League football after years of pressure. The decision is still subject to FA approval.
Teams such as Romulus and Loughborough Dynamo in the Evo Stik League currently play on artificial surfaces.
“If somebody said to me that we could have a 4g surface at Brighouse, I wouldn’t object to it,” Quinn said.
“The 4g surfaces are as good as playing on grass, that’s my personal view. In terms of a club like Brighouse Town, it would make us more sustainable because you could hire it out during the week, the ladies games could be on week-in-week-out, the under 19s and development team could be on there regularly and we would have a income steam from it.
“I think clubs should be encouraged to look for funding to get one because in my opinion to build a sustainable club with juniors. Playing on grass pitches at this time of year is very difficult and I’d be interested to know how many junior matches have taken place recently.
“I really think the FA, the Football Foundation and other sporting organisations need to look at how they can support clubs who want to move to a more sustainable and affordable playing surface.”
Brighouse have been fortunate during the bad weather to get most of their matches on at the Dual Seal Stadium. That can’t be said for a number of other teams who have been hit badly which is another reason why Quinn is advocating for 4g surfaces.
“You also look at the recent weather and with a 4g pitch you wouldn’t have the issue of having games off over Christmas,” he said. “Look at Darlington, they went from October until this very week without a home game and that is a massive strain even on a club the size of Darlington. If we went without a game that length of time then we would be in serious trouble because we haven’t got that income stream from anywhere else.”