Will it mean the Stobart is no longer used for football , as the markings on these pitches are permanent , are they not ?

I'm sure one of the things the council guy they interviewed said was that you could change the sport that was played from week to week so it meant it could be used far more extensively by the community.

I might be wrong , but I did think they were permanent markings

It depends on which paint they use. (crown or dulex)

In theory it just means Widnes will have to play that brand of rugby... what a shame

Did you see Boots 'N' All? Wondering if were the training was shot was at the Leigh East facility?

I hope so, but it will take time. Anyway, interesting times ahead. If succesfull maybe Wakey and Cas will follow suit.

I've played Rugby and football on 4G, whilst not being 'real grass' it is very similar and great to play on if a bit weird at first.

South London Storm play on an artificial pitch like this. It's great. Always firm underfoot, never frozen or baked. You get no more friction burns than you would on a normal grass pitch, and because you don't get small stones, you're less likely to come away with cuts. No complaints at all from us after our first season on it.

But how does it slide? If you do a full length Klinsman celebration dive on it when it's dry, what happens to you? Do you just judder quickly to a halt?

If they have, it will look good, but will actually be made from old technology that the other pitch manufacturers didn't want but still costs twice as much.

is this the same kind of stuff that they have at the indoor Soccerdome type places?

Its a carpet type mat on a sand base filled in with tiny black rubber balls , its good , no doubt about that and probably cheaper than undersoil and maintenance on a split grass/synthetic like the one at the LSV

witchcraft.

Of course, it'll be no use on matchdays in winter as that dreadful woman Elfine Safety will have shut the stands in case there's a small patch of ice some where in them. She'd have had an apoplectic fit if she'd seen the snowball fights we used to have on the terraces when I was a kid back in nineteenhundredand mindyourownbusiness

No, believe it or not you just slide as if you fell over on the grass. So you can lose a bit of bark, but mostly fine.

If you are able to change the markings on these pitches, would it make sense for all duel use pitches, that are used for both rugby and football eg; KC Stadium to install it?
Just saying as alot of the time when the seasons overlap the pitches just get churned up and also if ever a pitch needs relaying it seems to always effect the rugby teams rather than the football?

I've played on an i-pitch for American Football, you definitely need to make sure you have the correct foot wear. If teams come with the wrong boots (lets not put it past RL teams to do that) then Widnes may get an advantage.

If the drainage is spot on then wet weather shouldn't be as bad. They are definitely fast, firmer pitchers. Should be interesting to see the kicking games too.

New England Patriots (NFL) and New England Revoultion (MLS) both play on an artificial pitch at the Gillette Stadium with the markings being changed in the same week some times, they also host some Lacrosse on it too so it's easy enough to change the markings.

From what I've seen with the American sports on them, they play just like natural grass just without the mud.

Another Lancashire innovation. Yorkshire are just introducing floodlights.

The thing that annoyed me about Hemmings' questions was that they were very leading. He had an opinion, and so led with that in the question, e.g. "Surely this kind of pitch can't be right, can it?" etc. It's weak journalism. He's not supposed to express an opinion, he's supposed to ask a question in a neutral and non-leading manner. That's why he winds people up.

I thought that at the time. Then he starts banging on about unfair advantages and whether we should be forced to allow teams to train on it before playing on it. There are many ways teams give themselves an advantage, whether its the sloped pitch, the small in goal area, the width. To me, this will be a good thing especially in bad weather.

for more info go here,also questions and answers download from the vikings official site cheers. www.widnesvikings.co.uk/article.php?id=5601

for more info go here,also questions and answers download from the vikings official site cheers. www.widnesvikings.co.uk/article.php?id=5601

Don't think it was at Leigh East.

Leigh Centurions use that pitch for training sometimes and it didn't look like Leigh East from the shots I saw

Think it may have been at Edge Hill University Ormskirk