This guide will shoehorn directly into our next post, about the different boots available when you go shopping. Gearing up for your 1st ever match.
To the newbie, both types of pitch and types of boot can be enough to make you go insane, throw the laptop away and give up before even starting. We at FC7 don’t want that. So read our next 2 posts and get ready to be a wizard on all things in the lore of the turf and boot.
Let's pull up a pew, grab a drink and chat about the different pitches available to us 5, 6, 7-a-siders. This has caused many a debate in the pub, some heated.
We’ve all heard about Frodo’s tantrum in the kitchen, so hopefully this post we will put this to bed once and for all.
In doing so, put the Hobbit back in his box in the Shire for good.
Tsk, Sports Science degree, dunno what they are teaching the kids these days!
Frodo contemplating defeat....!
Right, where do we begin...
Basically, there are different types of pitch available (2G, 3G, 4G) to us players of the small sided game. They have codes associated to them, which probably have more akin to your next Mobile phone contract than they do to footy, so we’ll go through them all.
Grass is the natural surface to play football on, but over time it became necessary to make football available to everyone. People who didn’t live in temperate weather climes, city dwellers who didn’t have adequate green space etc. So, authorities started to build artificial surfaces.
Understanding the different types of turf is VERY important when deciding what boots to buy. Wearing the wrong boots on the wrong surface will void your warranty and even worse, cause you a serious injury.
Different Surfaces Explained…….
Concrete
As the name suggests. Maybe a little gravellier than a pavement, these were the original surfaces we played on back in the 80s. Hard, unforgiving and frankly quite dangerous. Sometimes there was a thin carpet laid on top of concrete with no infill. Some people call these pitches 1G, but you will hardly see these advertised anymore. I have fond memories of concrete. Games were a like a war, played 30-a-side, seemingly no rules, and arranged before school, break times, lunch and after school till the sun shone no more. The memories......
Just an average game of footy at school. Ahhh Nostalgia
2G
Here’s where the debate begins…..well from Frodo’s limited Hobbit mind.
2G stands for Second Generation and isn’t anything to do with your old Nokia 910. These were a flat, carpet-based layer over the top of a concrete or hard plastic surface.The pile height (the vertical length/ depth - 13mm-25mm) was very short. Trying to visualise it? Think the carpet in your home, but green.
The tell-tale signs of a 2G pitch will be the flatness and the sand, which is infilled on top of the pitch to help with grip and bounce on the surface. Many of you have played already on these pitches and have the scars, burns and cuts to prove it!
Although 2G (by the nature of it’s name) may appear like older style pitches, this isn’t always necessarily true. Field hockey, tennis and cricket, with a requirement for extremely flat surfaces, have been refining these specific pitches for their own use. But we don’t really care about those sports, so won’t go too much into it.
Check out the gallery below for some 2G examples. Keep an eye out for the sand:-
3G
This next step in artificial grass surfaces was a massive step up. It constitutes the current norm, when it comes to most 5-a-side games you play.
A detailed view of a proper 3G pitch
The pile height is the key here, it’s much longer (35mm-65mm), and there are individual plastic strands that attempt to mirror grass. The underlay is shock absorbent too. The lack of soil is then replicated with a part rubber and sand infill. Nowadays you will not even see much sand. Just the annoying black rubber which gets everywhere!
I often nurse a gin and contemplate whether this is what Frodo’s head is full of. Certainly, isn’t a brain!
3G is officially recognised by FIFA (football’s top global authority) and you must overcome some rigorous testing to pass and get 3G accreditation. 3G pitches come pretty damn close to replicating real grass, some say even better. You certainly realise this when u go in for a sliding tackle. No burns or cuts! Along with football, you will often see games of rugby, American football and lacrosse played on 3G.
Check out the gallery below of some examples of 3G:-
4G
Doesn’t officially exist…or does it. Well in that FIFA haven’t approved it. But that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it; my opinion is that it will happen. Anything that makes football more accessible is a must.
The premise of 4G is very similar to 3G but with the absence of those pesky black rubber infill bits, sorry Frodo! Amen to that.
There’s still testing going on with these surfaces. Mainly so F.I.F.A. can make sure there’s a level playing surface when it comes to international competitions. But also, to fully test if there’s any safety issues long term.
The absence of any detached infill (rubber)
5G/6G - There is talk of 5G and 6G……I’ve not heard much about this, but I assume it will be about emulating real grass to even more degrees than 3G and 4G.
Any other business?
FIFA make a clear difference between “hydrid” and “synthetic”. Synthetic being 100% made of man-made or artificial produce. Hybrid - It’s worth making a note here, that most top-level professional pitches are rarely 100% grass today. I believe FIFA have a law that a pitch must be minimum 95% real grass. 5% of the pitch can be plastic inter-threaded to the main grass throughout.
In a nutshell, you only need to worry about the 2 below in reality;
2G – colloquially known as “astroturf” in the 5-a-side community. Flat in length and nearly always filled with copious amounts of sand which will leave their mark on your knees! Studs can’t be worn on 2G either.
3G – a much longer length, more akin to grass but plastic and it’s a dead giveaway to spot as your boots get filled with that black rubber infill and end up all over your house……or burrow if you are a hobbit.
I’ll quickly mention, that you can also play footy inside on indoor courts. I’ll mention these a little bit more in the Boots post. You’ll understand the relevance then.
So that’s it…….the Turf War has been ended. And with that Frodo’s chance of fame and fortune. Guess someone small and hairy will be asking his University for refund ha!
Bless, Frodo........it's the taking part that counts
See you for the next post, as it will be an important one. A Guide to Football boots.
This will be really useful if you’re starting out. I also have to say, I’m still staggered how many seasoned ballers still don’t know the difference between, IN, TF, AG, FG and SG.
You will! If you join us for next time, until then arrivederci!
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