Other Games 2025-26

[Brazilian Villain]

Kazakhstan vs Wales at 3pm on BBC One

If it's half as good a game as the last time a British team went to Kazakhstan....

[cdbearsfan]

Scotland still qualified and McLeish got sacked. Great result.

[Somniloquism]

Wasn;t sure where to place this, but trckles might be harder to come by?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62q4l0d171o

[Monty]

Wasn;t sure where to place this, but trckles might be harder to come by?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62q4l0d171o

Perhaps for the best. The combined stress of watching the Villa and trying to get a stream to just fuckin' work for the love of god probably shortens my life like smoking would.

[Brend'Watkins]

Wales 1-0 up against Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan Are no mugs, I can see them getting back into it. It’s played on an artificial surface which I think shouldn’t be allowed at international level.

[Dave]

Wales 1-0 up against Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan Are no mugs, I can see them getting back into it. It’s played on an artificial surface which I think shouldn’t be allowed at international level.

Isn't that a bit unrealistic? What if you're, I dunno, Faroe Islands and you have a home fixture in January?

[Meanwood Villa]

There's no internationals in January for that reason. There used to be no European matches either but that's changed.

Having said which, this isn't Boundary Park or Kenilworth Road in the 80s, artificial turf is decent stuff now as far as I'm aware

[Brazilian Villain]

Kazakhstan knocking on the door. Can Cymru hold on?

[ChicagoLion]

There's no internationals in January for that reason. There used to be no European matches either but that's changed.

Having said which, this isn't Boundary Park or Kenilworth Road in the 80s, artificial turf is decent stuff now as far as I'm aware

It’s still very different to play on because the ball bounces differently.

[Brend'Watkins]

Wales 1-0 up against Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan Are no mugs, I can see them getting back into it. It’s played on an artificial surface which I think shouldn’t be allowed at international level.

Isn't that a bit unrealistic? What if you're, I dunno, Faroe Islands and you have a home fixture in January?

Even the Faroe Islands could stretch to undersoil heating, decent drainage and the type of surface we use for football matches. So, no, in 2025 it should not only be possible but a criteria for participation.

[cdbearsfan]

Plastic pitches are completely different to what they were like in the eighties. It would be unreasonable to expect all the snow for six months a year/no rain for eleven months a year countries to have grass pitches, and most of the FAs aren't exactly swimming in cash. Artificial surfaces are much cheaper/easier to maintain. They should be allowed in the Premiership, IMO.

[Brend'Watkins]

Plastic pitches are completely different to what they were like in the eighties. It would be unreasonable to expect all the snow for six months a year/no rain for eleven months a year countries to have grass pitches, and most of the FAs aren't exactly swimming in cash. Artificial surfaces are much cheaper/easier to maintain. They should be allowed in the Premiership, IMO.

I’m aware that they’ve improved massively and that some FAs are not as flush as others but even so. Just one pitch that’s the same as everyone else’s is not going to break even a Faroe Islands sized country.  And anyway, Denmark could give them a handout if it came to that.

[cdbearsfan]

You seem to be searching for a solution for a problem that doesn't exist. The pitches are fine, now. And maybe they could afford it, but perhaps the money could be better spent elsewhere. Players, coaching, youth development, that kind of thing. Kazakhstan has a population of twenty million but they're 114th in the world. I suspect that grassier pitches isn’t the number one issue that they need to rectify.