If you were asked what Terry Venables
was famous for, you might say as a footballer - Spurs, Chelsea
and England, or a football manager, a former England manager
no less, a TV pundit, even a businessman, but would you have
said as an novelist? And yet back in the 1970s Venables
collaborated with Gordon Williams, author of Straw Dogs,
to write a number of successful books.
Some of them featured Hazell, a rather
dubious, crafty cockney character, not unlike Venables himself
you might think, and were turned into a watchable television
series. They also wrote a book about football, set at some
unspecified time in the future, which was called They used
to play on grass'.
One of their predictions was that the
national cups of the four home nations, such as the FA cup,
would have long since made way for the British Cup. That seems
as far away and as improbable as ever but one of the hook's
other predictions, as suggested by the title, that the
professional game would be played on an artificial surface,
may be about to become true.
On 28th February, the International FA
Board held their annual meeting to look at any possible
changes to the laws of the game. They made an addition to Law
One, the Field of Play, which read, 'If permitted under the
rules of the competition concerned, the game may be played on
a natural or artificial turf surface. Artificial turf must
meet the requisite standards of FIFA'.
Older readers may well remember that
artificial surfaces were tried some years ago at a few
Football League grounds. I seem to recall QPR, Luton and
Oldham were clubs that installed them. They were not well
received. The complaints were mainly, I think, about the
bounce of the ball and the danger to players if they slid
along the surface.
The clubs were ordered to dig them up
and return to grass. Nevertheless, Football League clubs have
continued to use artificial surfaces for training purposes.
Reading FC have previously used the pitch at Cantley Park,
Wokingham and earlier this season I refereed at the Royals
Dome, which is a separate building in the Madejski Stadium
complex.
The surface was a joy to referee on and
I'm sure that it is enjoyed by those who play on it. It is
like a large shagpile carpet but, of course, the building is
completely enclosed and therefore the surface is not exposed
to the elements as it would be at normal match. That is unless
more grounds replicate the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff,
where they can completely close the roof.
Since the initial banning of artificial
surfaces, experiments have continued to find a synthetic turf
that would be deemed acceptable for play at the top level and
great strides have been made. Last August another milestone
was reached, when an artificial surface was used for the first
time for an international tournament. This was in Finland at
the FIFA under-17 World Cup. Ten games including the final,
were played on a FIFA recommended artificial surface.
There are, believe it or not, already
fifteen artificial turf manufacturers accepted by FTFA and
seventy-five FIFA recommended surfaces laid worldwide. Don't
expect the Madejkski Stadium or any other Football League
ground to be dug up during the close season and replaced, but
as the years go on, we will surely come to say, 'remember when
"they used to play on grass".'
As this is my last column of the season
may I say thanks to David Wright, Sports Editor of the Evening
Post, for allowing an alternative viewpoint on the game we
all love. And thanks also to all the readers who have written,
telephoned or just stopped to talk about my comments. It is
good to know the column is being read and from what you tell
me, enjoyed.
Dick Sawdon Smith