| The Old Plastic Pitch 09:43 - Nov 6 with 4071 views | Toast_R |
Does my memory serve correct, is that a picture of one of those gruelling FA Cup replays against Luton?
What's going on in the upper Loft there (Or not going on mores to the point)?
So want some feed back from supporters.
I was too young to go to Rangers when the plastic pitch was in place, never had any family who would take me...
What are peoples memories of the plastic pitch?
Was it as farcical as some have bitterly suggested, i.e the bounce and trajectory of the ball catching many opponents off guard?
Were there many players requiring skin grafts after 90 minutes?
What were peoples first impressions of it when QPR made the switch under Venables? |  | | |  |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 10:03 - Nov 6 with 2562 views | paulparker |
That could well be the Fa cup game against Luton , which was the 86/87 season (Bluestar as sponsor )
but I think its the game in 86 where we drew 0-0 , (stood in the paddocks that day ) you can just about make out Leroy Rosenior in the goalmouth
great days having that plastic pitch , we had a modern stadium at the time , great players
(fenwick, Hucker, Allen, Stainrod, Bannister, Byrne, Dawes , Waddock, Fereday, to name a few) the big clubs such as Liverpool hated coming to us Dogleish always moaned when we beat them, poor old Waddock had no knees left playing on that pitch,
what I most remember about those times and what really sticks out was the Milk cup run, the Guinness kit, the night games against Forest, Chelsea & Liverpool, QPR ski hats everywhere it really was a good time to be a Rangers fan |  |
| And Bowles is onside, Swinburne has come rushing out of his goal , what can Bowles do here , onto the left foot no, on to the right foot
That’s there that’s two, and that’s Bowles
Brian Moore
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| The Old Plastic Pitch on 10:23 - Nov 6 with 2541 views | CamberleyR |
Were'nt Luton the first team to play us on it? I reckon that photo could well be from that game, August 1981 a midweek game IIRC. I was on holiday abroad with my parents at the time. |  |
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| The Old Plastic Pitch on 10:44 - Nov 6 with 2505 views | Lewes_r |
I remember going to one of the first games with that pitch.. shocking surface barely better that the fake grass you get on a grocers stand.. wayne the speedster fereday liked it tho.. I seem to remember everyone miss timing their jumps for headers and it all being a bit bonkers
Im also worried about Lutons man marking for that corner |  |
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| The Old Plastic Pitch on 10:46 - Nov 6 with 2501 views | qprxtc |
This is the first game on the Omniturf against Luton in 1981. The Loft stand was still being built which is why there's only a few upstairs.
The pitch wasn't too bad to start with for sheer novelty factor but after a while it got to be a pain in the @rse. From teams complaining about it to the gradually deteriorating standard of football played on it.
I can't watch old videos of it now as it just looks wrong. The bounce was something else. There's a video out there somewhere of us against Ipswich and Eric Gates goes clean through for Ipswich but the bounce is so high that he runs past the ball.
By the end it was threadbare and an embarrassment.
If you look at our record in the mid 80s that pitch kept us up though. We won at home and lost away. Maybe we should bring it back!
[Post edited 6 Nov 2014 10:52]
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| The Old Plastic Pitch on 11:04 - Nov 6 with 2467 views | Walnut |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 10:46 - Nov 6 by qprxtc |
This is the first game on the Omniturf against Luton in 1981. The Loft stand was still being built which is why there's only a few upstairs.
The pitch wasn't too bad to start with for sheer novelty factor but after a while it got to be a pain in the @rse. From teams complaining about it to the gradually deteriorating standard of football played on it.
I can't watch old videos of it now as it just looks wrong. The bounce was something else. There's a video out there somewhere of us against Ipswich and Eric Gates goes clean through for Ipswich but the bounce is so high that he runs past the ball.
By the end it was threadbare and an embarrassment.
If you look at our record in the mid 80s that pitch kept us up though. We won at home and lost away. Maybe we should bring it back!
[Post edited 6 Nov 2014 10:52]
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..though when we got promoted under Venables, we did it with something like 10 away wins? |  | | |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 11:53 - Nov 6 with 2410 views | DWQPR |
That was the first ever game with the new Loft still being completed. I was in the lower Loft for that game which Luton won 2-1 and looked a far better team than us, which was proven as they were second division champions that season. During that close season with the Loft being built on Saturday afternoons during the summer once the pitch had been laid and the club had kindly stuck a goal up at the School End for the benefit of the press, myself and a few mates would sneek in and have a game of 3 and in. Mind you once in goal you wanted to get out quickly as the pitch was awful to dive on and you really had to admire the likes of Burridge and Hucker for playing on it regularly. Awful surface. Didn't dare try ny sliding tackles. | |
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| The Old Plastic Pitch on 12:12 - Nov 6 with 2389 views | WareRanger |
That's definitely the 1st game on an artificial pitch in England against Luton in 1980-81. I reckon that's Bob Hazell, Simon Stainrod, Clive Allen and Terry Fenwick in the box and you can definitely spot Ricky Hill for Luton. Gary Waddock is just outside the box.
I had good memories of it at the time but my local sports centre has had a similar surface for years and it is lethal. Go over on it and you'll be stuck to the bedsheets for days after for all the wrong reasons.
I also remember invading the pitch for the last game on it (Sheffield Wednesday?). People were wripping it up in strips and I've still got a bit in my downstairs toilet! | | | |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 12:17 - Nov 6 with 2373 views | ElHoop |
I was there that day - don't remember which stands were open but Luton did bring a decent following. The pitch suited them I think. The grass/mud/sand pitch which preceded it was arguably even worse though. The type of football we were playing in the 1970s must have been difficult on that pitch - did it cost us the league in 1976? I suspect that we might have won the league on the current pitch. |  | | |
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| The Old Plastic Pitch on 12:43 - Nov 6 with 2326 views | Monahoop |
Remember that pitch well. Bloody awful. Like a subbuteo pitch. Luton obviously were impressed with it as they went and got one of their own the next season. Preston and Oldham followed suit. I remember seeing Prestons pitch. Far superior to ours.
I seem to recall some visiting mob vandalised the pitch around the centre circle. Was it Chelsea, was it Millwall, was it Palace or West Ham? Can't remember now, but I'm certain it was the devious doings from another London lot. |  |
| There aint half been some clever bastards. |
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| The Old Plastic Pitch on 13:00 - Nov 6 with 2287 views | SimonJames |
I've still got a bit of it somewhere, from the last game against Sheffield Wednesday.
Definitely wouldn't have wanted to dive on it, since it was basically like diving on concrete... with the added bonus of carpet burns.  |  |
| 100% of people who drink water will die. |
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| The Old Plastic Pitch on 13:01 - Nov 6 with 2285 views | bosh67 |
I played on it quite a few times and I really liked it. Yes the bounce was ridiculous but you soon got used to it. Yes it could burn but you got used to how to tackle on it. Yes the ball could shoot off if it was damp but it did encourage accurate pass and move type play. The only issue I had with it was that it was slightly ridged in the middle with a slight bank. If the ball caught it, it was unpredictable. But overall I enjoyed it and from a first team perspective, we played some great stuff on it. |  |
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| The Old Plastic Pitch on 13:52 - Nov 6 with 2217 views | GetMeRangers |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 13:01 - Nov 6 by bosh67 |
I played on it quite a few times and I really liked it. Yes the bounce was ridiculous but you soon got used to it. Yes it could burn but you got used to how to tackle on it. Yes the ball could shoot off if it was damp but it did encourage accurate pass and move type play. The only issue I had with it was that it was slightly ridged in the middle with a slight bank. If the ball caught it, it was unpredictable. But overall I enjoyed it and from a first team perspective, we played some great stuff on it. |
Played as a keeper on it... nightmare, as it was for many teams visiting keepers. |  | | |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 13:54 - Nov 6 with 2214 views | JAPRANGERS |
I wonder how much the plastic pitch contributed to the famous 5-5 scoreline with Newcastle??
Also, why was it scraped eventually. Did Football League regulations change and so it got banned?? I guess such a pitch will never see the light of day again. |  | | |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 13:59 - Nov 6 with 2197 views | CroydonCaptJack |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 12:12 - Nov 6 by WareRanger |
That's definitely the 1st game on an artificial pitch in England against Luton in 1980-81. I reckon that's Bob Hazell, Simon Stainrod, Clive Allen and Terry Fenwick in the box and you can definitely spot Ricky Hill for Luton. Gary Waddock is just outside the box.
I had good memories of it at the time but my local sports centre has had a similar surface for years and it is lethal. Go over on it and you'll be stuck to the bedsheets for days after for all the wrong reasons.
I also remember invading the pitch for the last game on it (Sheffield Wednesday?). People were wripping it up in strips and I've still got a bit in my downstairs toilet! |
Yes, I have a piece in my Loft. |  | | |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 14:04 - Nov 6 with 2179 views | thame_hoops |
first went in 87, remember walking up the stairs in ellerlie and then coming through and seeing the bright green pitch, loved watching us play on it.
The bounce was ridiculous and players did get carpet burns.
does anyone remember a comedy show where they showed us playing liverpool and the liverpool player went down and then they cut to a mock scene where the physio comes on, pushes the player aside and scrubs the blood off the turf instead of attending to the player
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| The Old Plastic Pitch on 14:34 - Nov 6 with 2161 views | Sudbury_Hill_R |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 12:43 - Nov 6 by Monahoop |
Remember that pitch well. Bloody awful. Like a subbuteo pitch. Luton obviously were impressed with it as they went and got one of their own the next season. Preston and Oldham followed suit. I remember seeing Prestons pitch. Far superior to ours.
I seem to recall some visiting mob vandalised the pitch around the centre circle. Was it Chelsea, was it Millwall, was it Palace or West Ham? Can't remember now, but I'm certain it was the devious doings from another London lot. |
I vaguely remember some paint damage on the pitch under the TV gantry that was put there by some 'trustees' from the Scrubs prison. I think it had been snowing and the club needed a workforce to assist clearing the pitch so they took the opportunity to spray something political and try to gain maximum publicity from TV.
It was covered up with green paint but you could still read the message. I don't remember who we played that weekend but it was one of the few games to go ahead that weekend.
Rumour has it they were fuelled by a few bottles of beer given to them by one or two of our players. |  | | |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 14:36 - Nov 6 with 2154 views | Maggsinho |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 14:04 - Nov 6 by thame_hoops |
first went in 87, remember walking up the stairs in ellerlie and then coming through and seeing the bright green pitch, loved watching us play on it.
The bounce was ridiculous and players did get carpet burns.
does anyone remember a comedy show where they showed us playing liverpool and the liverpool player went down and then they cut to a mock scene where the physio comes on, pushes the player aside and scrubs the blood off the turf instead of attending to the player
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Yes, I remember that, was the Jasper Carrot show. |  | | |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 15:43 - Nov 6 with 2099 views | SonofNorfolt |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 14:34 - Nov 6 by Sudbury_Hill_R |
I vaguely remember some paint damage on the pitch under the TV gantry that was put there by some 'trustees' from the Scrubs prison. I think it had been snowing and the club needed a workforce to assist clearing the pitch so they took the opportunity to spray something political and try to gain maximum publicity from TV.
It was covered up with green paint but you could still read the message. I don't remember who we played that weekend but it was one of the few games to go ahead that weekend.
Rumour has it they were fuelled by a few bottles of beer given to them by one or two of our players. |
Except that George Davis wasn't innocent at all. |  | | |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 15:56 - Nov 6 with 2082 views | terryb |
That season we had to make do with The School End as the home end.
Personally I disliked the pitch & was very pleased when we had to get rid of it. Mind you, the Venables side could play some good stuff on it, but then they also did in away games! | | | |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 17:01 - Nov 6 with 2039 views | wood_hoop |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 15:56 - Nov 6 by terryb |
That season we had to make do with The School End as the home end.
Personally I disliked the pitch & was very pleased when we had to get rid of it. Mind you, the Venables side could play some good stuff on it, but then they also did in away games! |
Hated the pitch as well...
One vague memory was when we played Everton in 85/86 ? the game was dire, the thing I most remember was Andy Gray (sky fame) starting a mass brawl in the centre of the pitch.... |  | | |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 17:24 - Nov 6 with 2015 views | BrianMcCarthy |
It was great, just to listen to the oppo always bleating about it.
I was never sure how much it helped us. It was impossible to quantify. As mentioned, early on we were great home and away, but then during the late 80's we were shocking away from home. Most of that I used to put down to us being gutless hoors away from home (and we were!), but another side of that is that, because our game was designed for plastic ie pass and move, and on the deck) playing away on poor grass pitches always seemed to kill us. The oppo played on a 'foreign' pitch only once a year, we did it every second game.
Played on it a few times. The one up South Africa Road was nearly as good. |  |
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| The Old Plastic Pitch on 20:44 - Nov 6 with 1881 views | Sudbury_Hill_R |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 15:43 - Nov 6 by SonofNorfolt |
Except that George Davis wasn't innocent at all. |
But Rose always said he was! | | | |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 22:23 - Nov 6 with 1778 views | CiderwithRsie |
In defence of the plastic, if you look at games of that era on youtube you usually see a vast grassless expanse over the whole of the centre of the pitch. When we beat Chelsea 2-0 at their place in the Milk Cup I remember a chant of "We've got more grass than you" (as K*n B*tes had been whinging about our pitch.) Loftus Road was notoriously bad as a pitch before the plastic went in.
It was the era of Watford and Sheffield Weds "long ball" (with the FA adopting it as official policy for England and announcing that Brazil didn't know how to pay the game, FFS) partly so that teams could by-pass the quagmire in the middle of most pitches. Try that at Loftus Rd and the ball bounced 10 feet in the air - under Venables we were all about passing to feet and pace down the wings, and a lot of the moaning came from poor football sides who couldn't do that.
Quality of pitches is one of the few things that the modern game is streets ahead on. | | | |
| The Old Plastic Pitch on 22:33 - Nov 6 with 1771 views | DylanP |
We were brilliant when we had that plastic pitch. We played so skillfully and such beautiful football. Those really were glory days. Passing had to be crisp and precise. There was no hit and hope coz the ball would zip off the surface. You had to pass with intention and skill. It was great to watch. |  |
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| The Old Plastic Pitch on 23:45 - Nov 6 with 1717 views | loftboy |
It certainly made the sit in protest against FPR easier, no sitting on wet grass. |  |
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