Falkirk board update: Pitch switch timeline as Bairns' chiefs talk 'silly' Scottish football and next season
Pitch switch timeline as Bairns' chiefs talk 'silly' Scottish football and next season.
Falkirk’s board of directors reckon that “Scottish football keeps punching itself in the face then complaining when it hurts” ahead of a controversial artificial pitch ban coming into play this summer.
Scottish Premiership clubs back in 2024 voted to ban plastic pitches in the top flight from the start of next season, and although the Bairns’ hierarchy managed to negotiate an extra year’s grace period, the newly-promoted club will still need to fork out a seven-figure sum over the next 12 months to prepare for putting down a grass surface in the summer of 2027.
And replacing Falkirk’s current FIFA Quality Pro artificial surface - which is UEFA Champions League compliant - sees the club’s board having to find around £1m to fund the switch. The SPFL agreed to advance some future prize money, but that will only cover around one third of the money needed to install a “high-quality hybrid” surface and to fund training facilities for the first team and academy.
Fan-owned Falkirk haven’t had any match postponements this term - and the Bairns’ ground has actually been used as a contingency venue for another SPFL cup match due to another stadium, with a grass surface, being unable to cope with the Scottish weather. A host of top-flight postponements across the country have occurred since the start of the year.
Falkirk preparing for pitch switch
“Next season’s formidable challenge is obviously replacing the playing surface,” a board spokesperson said. “Despite the hardships faced by several other SPFL clubs, whose pitches became unplayable for weeks because of Scotland’s predictably wetter climate and are still poor to both the eye and the ball, the ban remains. We won’t dwell on Bodo Glimt, but Scottish football keeps punching itself in the face then complaining when it hurts. Bairns are aware that the club received a year’s grace before we have to instal a grass pitch and we reiterate our gratitude to the SPFL leadership. That agreement included some acceleration of future SPFL prize money.
“The club will therefore begin preparations in the coming months for the switch to grass. We will tender for the best delivery partners, with the aim of installing a high-quality hybrid pitch at the Falkirk Stadium in time for the beginning of season 2027/28. We also need to make arrangements for new first team and Academy training facilities. This will cost a total of around £1.5m. The SPFL advances will cover around a third of that cost, so the club has to, at minimum, find the rest.”]
In order to be able to fund the pitch switch, club chiefs have revealed that they are considering various funding options, and that after freezing season ticket costs this season, that a “pitch premium” is being considered on top of the season ticket and matchday pricing.
Falkirk may have to introduce higher pricing
They continued: “To be clear: our ambition is to lay a high-quality surface and secure the best possible training facilities for our squads without adversely impacting the first-team budget or other critical parts of the club, like our Academy. This is a high bar, but with creativity and determination, we can achieve this and strengthen our club long-term. The club is considering a variety of funding options. These include commercial or institutional finance, though it is clear that appetite for lending to football clubs is low, and we must be careful not to saddle the club with too much debt.
“We are talking to shareholders and others in the Falkirk family who may be willing to offer help, as well as discussing options for wider fundraising with the FSS and other fans’ groups. Some funding will likely have to come from the club’s cash reserves, which we have only recently managed to begin to rebuild but which will benefit from this season’s outstanding league campaign and cup runs. We will also have to consider a time-limited ‘pitch premium’ on top of season ticket and match ticket prices to meet some of the shortfall, perhaps in a similar way we used previous seasons’ Manager’s Fund. In conjunction with specialist partners, we have been exploring the option of offering a season ticket credit option to supporters to help spread the cost.
We will also have to consider a time-limited ‘pitch premium’ on top of season ticket and match ticket prices to meet some of the shortfall
What is clear is that it will take a team effort from everyone connected with the club. No stone will be left un-turned and we invite all supporters to take the initiative both in fundraising towards the objective and contributing ideas to the Club. Joining FSS is the single most effective step any fan can take to support our efforts (Euromillions aside!). Being fan-owned brings the strength of an entire fan-base to bear when we face a challenge of this magnitude, though not a single “sugar daddy” owner who can underwrite this sudden cash requirement.
More detail will follow soon, but we wanted Falkirk fans to know that we are on the case and determined to do this well while making your club stronger in the process. In addition, we continue to seek a minority investor to help us in developing the club’s sporting and physical infrastructure, ideally a party who brings more than simply finance to the table. But we will not sell any part of the club on the cheap. Falkirk fans have invested too much to allow that.”
The club’s board also said they hope the upcoming Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final clash against rivals Dunfermline Athletic is “remembered for all the right reasons, asking fans to be on their best behaviour at Barclays Hampden. A tribute was also paid to one of Falkirk’s heroes, John Markie, who died in February.