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Sutton chairman lashes out at the EFL and brands them “dinosaurs”

Sutton United chairman Bruce Elliott lashes out at the EFL and brands them “dinosaurs” in a rant which has many agreeing with his views.

The club have impressed their supporters this season, making themselves promotion contenders in the process and are just one point behind leaders Hartlepool, but have three games in hand over them.

Now if they are to gain promotion, they will have to scrap their 3G pitch, costing them a huge amount of money, so has now criticised the EFL’s attitude.

The National League club will lose around £500,000 next season from getting rid of their state-of-the-art pitch at Gander Green Lane to install a grass one if they win promotion to League Two.

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More than £200,000 will continue to go missing every year from the Surrey based outfit due to the loss of revenue from the community use of the stadium – a big sum of cash for a club of their size – and take on new costs of finding another training venue.

This is something Harrogate had to do for the 2019/20 season, temporarily groundsharing with Doncaster Rovers until their pitch was sorted.

Artificial surfaces have been banned from the English Football League since 1995, though it’s the clubs that have decided not to allow synthetic pitches to return.

In 2014, in an EFL-wide ballot, 34 clubs voted for 3G pitches, 34 against with four abstentions so the regulations were not changed, however in 2018 a majority of teams were against.

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It’s a mad decision considering clubs abroad can use 3G pitches in the Champions League and Europa League, yet it’s not allowed from the fourth tier of English football upwards. Plus with clubs at non league level are struggling financially.

Elliott told Justin Allen: “Financially it’ll be tough. We’ve already had to take out a loan, like lots of National League clubs, to get us through to the end of this season – and if we get promoted we’re going to lose somewhere around £500,000 to change our pitch.

“Installing our 3G pitch five years ago was a game-changer.

“Our academy, ladies, boys, girls, disability teams, walking football all use it – and it’s hired out constantly.

“Our first-team also trains on it – so not only do we lose around £200,000 income from those using it, we are also going to have to find the extra cost of training somewhere else as well as another home with hopefully a 3G pitch for all our other teams to use.

“You would’ve thought League One and Two clubs especially would welcome the extra revenue it generates.

“There needs to be pressure put on the EFL to seriously look at this. Talk about heads in the sands – they’re being dinosaurs on this subject.”

The FA has also put in millions of pounds into 3G pitches at grassroots level and at least 16 League Two clubs either own or have use of a 3G pitch for training.

Elliott said: “It makes the whole thing an even bigger nonsense.

“There is a misconception that 3G pitches cause more injuries – but that is not what we’ve experienced.

“If clubs were so worried, why do they let their players train on them then?

“I’ve watched international and European matches played on them and it just winds me up further.”

In 2017 Sutton entertained Premier League giants Arsenal in the FA Cup – and Elliott said: “Arsene Wenger didn’t batter an eyelid and never once complained, which speaks volumes.”

Harrogate chairman Irving Weaver agrees with this topic after his club had to get rid of theirs in the summer.

 

The Sulpherites chief saying: “We’ve never had to worry about calling off a Boxing Day game, with bumper crowds, because of a frozen or waterlogged pitch.

“The 3G pitches are fantastic and the fact we had one saw us play a passing game that helped us get promoted.

“And the other thing you have to consider is that when we hired the pitch out it brought lots of people to the stadium and therefore introducing a new audience to the club. In turn, many started coming to watch our games.

“We had 280 kids – eight to 16 – using it from our player development centre. They paid subs, families would come and then attend first-team matches

“Although we’ve been around for 107 years, most of those were in the lower levels of non-league so don’t have an established fan-base – we’re having to grow it now. Losing the facility has taken away one of our opportunities to grow club loyalty.

“It was hard enough not being able to introduce new fans by playing our play-off final at Wembley behind closed doors.”

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Elliott said: “We’ve been a non-league club for 123 years – and to become a Football League side will be a proud moment. We’ll certainly do what is required by the EFL if we do win promotion.”

Weaver added: “The positives and prestige of being in the EFL outweigh the negatives. It was an incredible achievement for us to get into the Football League.

“We’ve won two promotions in three years so you have to take the joy with the pain.”

Three years ago, a Professional Footballers’ Association survey of 1,748 players in the EFL found that the vast majority were against fully synthetic pitches. Harrogate chairman is convinced that attitudes will soon change however.

He said: “At the moment, there are a lot of professional footballers who don’t want to play matches on 3G but in 10 years as kids that are brought up on them now come through you’ll see an attitude shift.

“I’d certainly put one in again if given the chance.”

An EFL spokesman told Justin Allen: “The use of artificial pitches is not currently on the agenda.

“Ultimately, clubs determine the regulations so the requirement to play on grass is the will of the membership.”

Fans reacted as the Sutton chairman lashes out at the EFL and brands them “dinosaurs”…

@DesmondDarrin: I understand his comments that it brings in some decent revenue, and that communities can use the facilities all year round…… but he and the club knew the rules and they wouldn’t be moaning if Sutton were mid table or fighting relegation..

@ryangolding2010: Looking into actual published studies would be a good place to start. Up to 27% increase in non-contact injuries on artificial surfaces. But that doesn’t fit the narrative. Obviously professional sportsmen love playing on plastic mats and chopped up car tyres.

@FinniganSimon: It’s bonkers. You can play a champions league game, and FA cup match, a World Cup qualifier on it, but not league 2? Stupidity in action.

@AFCDaddeo: It’s been the conundrum for local lower league clubs for some years. Promotion to league 2 and sacrifice a communities football or not ? Tough call for community clubs.

@carlperrett: The EFL are just so out of touch. Great opportunity with what is going on with the so called big 6 and make a stand and say yes we will allow 3G and make sure that the community can still use the pitch and that the club will have a constant income

@VandepeerTom: Dinosaurs indeed, @maidstoneunitedhave been fighting this for years, am easy solution to this is to have it in Leagues Two and One and if promoted to The Championship then it will need to come up, this means a direct path to football league from lower than the National League.

@_Danny__S: Let me get this right… 3G pitches in the National league have to be UEFA accredited? Right or wrong?If right then that accreditation allows for an elite standard of football to be played on it. No use of 3G further pushes fans and the community away. Why? EFL need to review!

@wastedrockrange: Yes it’s the same standard that England played on against Lithuania and Arsenal played in Sweden for a Europa League game. It’s frankly ridiculous that it’s not allowed in the EFL

@d_tipping: He is right,they are allowed every were but our league even in CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

@FrowzyJoe: Absolute shambles that the EFL don’t allow 3G pitches. The survival of so many clubs like Sutton relies on the 3G pitch being used by the community and other teams, yet they would have to rip it up if they get promoted.

As the Sutton chairman lashes out at the EFL and brands them “dinosaurs”, do you agree with him and his thoughts? Let us know on our socials!

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