Pitch ratings for April

The pitch ratings system is back for season 2015 by request of our members.

Each delegate of the away team each week gives a rating based on the following criteria -

The pitch rating as a mark out of 5 is as follows - 
5 – Excellent
4 – Very good
3 – Good
2 – Unsatisfactory
1 – Poor

Delegates consider each of the following to determine the quality of the pitch -
- Run of the ball
- Stability
- General presentation
- Grass coverage
- Quality of remedial work being carried out at half time

PFA Ireland Player Executive, Ollie Cahill, said “Our members felt the quality of the playing surfaces needed to be highlighted, the good, but in particular, the bad. We understand the difficulties that clubs face trying to get pitches up to scratch during the off season but the players felt that some of the surfaces are not at the standard required by the top league in the country. Hopefully we will see the surfaces improve over the summer and that most pitches record an average mark of 3 and above.

“We all saw the excellent playing surface at Turner’s Cross on Friday night and it helped produce a fantastic game of football and it’s no surprise it tops the table this month. If players could play on surfaces like this every week it can help improve the quality of football played each week.

“We’ll pass on this information to the FAI and make them aware of the players’ feelings on this issue.”

The pitch ratings will be published at the end of each month and each mark is an average.