So this season the playing fields really are even in the English Premier League, but we can’t say that we endorse this move. This season all of the Premier League clubs will be kicking off on pitches that are the same size. The pitches now have to measure 105metres by 68metres. Clubs such as Stoke City who have gained an advantage of having a smaller pitch and cramping teams that visit the Britannia Ground have had to increase the size of their pitch to meet the new rules.
Such a move was mooted in Australia, but it is a move that we do not applaud. One of the great things about travelling to different grounds was always seeing how teams coped with a narrower or a a wider pitch. It really sorted out which teams really could play football under any circumstances, and were able to adapt. Now there is no need to do so, and coaches will have very few excuses for getting it wrong on an away trip.
Football should never become homogenised, it is heading down that path and it is time that coaches and club owners aired their views to prevent it becoming a stale and predictable spectacle.
