Gian-Luca Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 Well, this opens a lot of interesting doors if Pipe's quotes are accurate. EXPOS ADDING NEW TURF MONTREAL (CP) -- The Expos will play what is likely to be their final season in Montreal on a brand new artificial surface at Olympic Stadium. The team said Tuesday it is replacing the stadium's rock hard Astroturf with FieldTurf for the 2004 season. "The new playing field will be a welcome improvement for the players in terms of safety, playability and comfort," Claude Delorme, the team's executive vice-president of business affairs, said in a release. "It represents the closest synthetic surface to natural grass that we have seen on the market today." The team also renewed its one-year lease at the Big O on Tuesday. FieldTurf is a Montreal-based company. The decision is good news for the Canadian Soccer Association, since FieldTurf is a playing surface approved by FIFA. The surface is already installed in Montreal's Molson Stadium and Ottawa's Frank Clair Stadium. "It certainly gives us more options," said association COO Kevan Pipe, although he added that Molson Stadium would be a more likely home for soccer. Pipe said Canada will play some of its World Cup qualifying games on FieldTurf. That will require a dispensation from FIFA but Pipe says "We are regarding that process as being a formality rather than being an exception." The Expos were bought by the other 29 teams before the 2002 season. Baseball officials have spoken about the Expos with groups from Las Vegas; Monterrey, Mexico; Norfolk, Va.; Northern Virginia; Portland, Ore.; San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. The Expos home opener is Friday, April 23 versus the Philadelphia Phillies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Rollins1555362254 Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca Well, this opens a lot of interesting doors if Pipe's quotes are accurate. EXPOS ADDING NEW TURF MONTREAL (CP) -- The Expos will play what is likely to be their final season in Montreal on a brand new artificial surface at Olympic Stadium.... Is it just me, or have the Expos not played their last season in Montreal about 10 times already? Anyway... FieldTurf, like it or not, will eventually have full FIFA approval. To me, it's just a matter of time. And before anyone rips me, I'm not arguing that it should be approved; I'm arguing that the writing is on the wall, it will be approved. Which would be good news for us because, God knows, the likelihood of a grass SSS being build in this country (outside of, maybe, Vancouver) is slim and none. The plastic stuff is, realistically, all that we can hope for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natesta Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 I'm curious how this stuff reacts to cold weather? It's still beyond comprehension that we cannot use a real pitch and that having qualifiers on this crap is even being discussed. I've seen the stuff, been on the stuff, and touched the stuff. No matter what anyone claims it's not even close to the same as real grass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Natesta I'm curious how this stuff reacts to cold weather? It's still beyond comprehension that we cannot use a real pitch and that having qualifiers on this crap is even being discussed. I've seen the stuff, been on the stuff, and touched the stuff. No matter what anyone claims it's not even close to the same as real grass. Uh, come out to Kent Park in Montréal (Fieldturf), on which we could theoretically hold WCQs. It is almost unanimously chosen as the best surface in the city. It plays amazingly well. The FT usually needs to settle and flatten a bit, otherwise it's too soft. Kent is entering its 4th year as a FT field, seeing ENORMOUS amounts of action (public field in Montréal's ethnic, soccer-crazy neighbourhood) yet still looking amazing. The use has helped it become the surface it is today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
massimo Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Daniel, I as well have played at Kent Park and can not complain about its quality. Lord knows that park is used and abused, yet still retains its quality of play. If it were up to me I'd keep them coming as many parks in Mtl are simply disgusting compared to Kent Park. Massimo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack Currently, 4 clubs in Europe are using Field Turf for their domestic championship games. These are Dunfermline (Scotland), FC Torpedo Moskva (Russia), SV Austria Salzburg (Austria) and Örebro SK (Sweden). UEFA is studying the effects this new turf. But as far as I know, there hasn't been any complaints so far. Technically not all of those are using FieldTurf. Dunfermline, for example, uses XLTurf. "FieldTurf" is often used as a generic term (which I'm sure that FieldTurf (the company) is thrilled about) but it shouldn't be. And those aren't the only four clubs using artificial surfaces. In addition to many lower-level and amateur clubs, Jokerit (Finland) and Denizlispor (Turkey) are two others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Observer Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Most of Europe is using Astro Play. This is the surface that is used at ManU and Real for training and also used at the U17 in Finland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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