A&H

Metal Studs on 3/4G

L

lalec03

Loz
In the LOTG, there is an emphasis on player safety - is it unsafe for a player to wear metal studs on a 3G or 4G surfaced pitch?
 
The Referee Store
The LOTG do not specify materials for shoes. There used to be a long section about studs and bars, but it went away decades ago. Unless ROC address, I don't think the ref should be concerned about metal vs. plastic studs--though I would check metal studs for burs if I ever saw them. (But then here in Southern California the fields are so hard I've neve seen screw in studs on a player and the stores don't carry them.)
 
es1 said:
Generally 3/4G facilities advise on suitable footwear, or even prohibited footwear, and iirc metal studs are almost always prohibited
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Just curious—do referees get expected to police that, or is that the team’s responsibility as it is a field rule not a LOTG or league rule?

(and I’d not in connection to the OP, that isn’t a player safety rule, but a protect the surface rule.)
 
Excellent question, at some venues they'll actively check (I've been asked to leave a pitch when doing a pre match walk round in flat soled trainers before).

Unsure as to the actual Answer as the footwear restrictions are to maximise the life of the surface I believe, rather than anything to do with player safety
 
We’ve got a step 3 and step 5 grounds near me with brand new 3G pitches. Both have restrictions but they are different for each. The other week I was on the step 3 pitch when a club official tried to kick one of my assistants off during the game because he was wearing astros. They are ok on the other pitch -because he’s refereed on that one several times recently - but not that one. The clubs police it rather than the officials because it’s to protect the pitch.

I have a Sunday league final on the pitch on Sunday and we’ve been asked to keep everyone else off the surface, including technical areas(!) but the club are policing it for players, officials etc.
 
We have a new 3G surface at our school and a few around the county at various grounds... the only shoes not permitted at these are flat soles shoes as they flatten the surface and metal BLADES as they can tear the surface.

All other shoes are permitted including metal studs.
 
socal lurker said:
Just curious—do referees get expected to police that, or is that the team’s responsibility as it is a field rule not a LOTG or league rule?

(and I’d not in connection to the OP, that isn’t a player safety rule, but a protect the surface rule.)
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Clubs tend to be very precious regarding the care and preservation of their 3/4G pitches and so will generally send out strict instruction as to what is/isn't acceptable for footwear in their pre-match admin detail.
I'm not aware of any text in the LOTG that even suggests that the referee is even remotely responsible for policing that aspect of the game which is why clubs tend to include it in detail prior to a fixture. 🙂😎
 
Clubs are super protective over the pitches and footwear as they can easily extend the life of the pitch by doing so.

One in my area is now a good 3 years after its "end of life" and is arguably one of the nicest in the county. Equally those that let flat shoes on etc etc barely last a year before being bloody awful.
 
The other thing to bear in mind here is that 3G pitches have to have an official inspection every 3 years, if they fail they cannot be used for any affiliated football, even at the very lowest of grass roots level. Can therefore absolutely understand why they have rules in place to protect the pitches.
 
A local 4G facility was expecting referees to police footwear not only of players and coaches but also of any spectators in attendance. Our RA got involved and made it clear this was no a refereeing matter.
 
We had our Premier division cup final on the brand new step 3 pitch yesterday. One of the teams got totally out of control on it, and I’m expecting the club to ban our league from their ground in future as a result.

They brought alcohol in, despite the club saying not to as the bar was open. They were told not to by the league committee members present, including myself, and then made a point of opening bottles on the pitch in front of the club committee. The were drinking and smoking in the technical area until I saw them and put a stop to it.

they then basically had a party on the pitch after the game, with children and partners taking photos in the goalmouths. When the club complained to the manager about this they told them to get lost because they were being stupid and trainers, wellington boots etc wouldn’t damage the £650,000 surface!

this team were an absolute nightmare when they were on their previous league before being kicked out, and now they’re doing the same things on this one - I also referee on that league, and was partially responsible for them being kicked out. They only got in this league through the back door, and now they’ve really started playing up. What the hell is up with people?
 
markref said:
We had our Premier division cup final on the brand new step 3 pitch yesterday. One of the teams got totally out of control on it, and I’m expecting the club to ban our league from their ground in future as a result.

They brought alcohol in, despite the club saying not to as the bar was open. They were told not to by the league committee members present, including myself, and then made a point of opening bottles on the pitch in front of the club committee. The were drinking and smoking in the technical area until I saw them and put a stop to it.

they then basically had a party on the pitch after the game, with children and partners taking photos in the goalmouths. When the club complained to the manager about this they told them to get lost because they were being stupid and trainers, wellington boots etc wouldn’t damage the £650,000 surface!

this team were an absolute nightmare when they were on their previous league before being kicked out, and now they’re doing the same things on this one - I also referee on that league, and was partially responsible for them being kicked out. They only got in this league through the back door, and now they’ve really started playing up. What the hell is up with people?
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If I'd have been one of those league committee members the game wouldn't have been played. Sorry folks, the game is off as the pitch is unplayable due to there being a bunch of idiots on it 😂
 
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