Premiership clubs vote to bin plastic pitches as clock starts on return to grass for promotion hopefuls

There will be NO plastic pitches in the Premiership by the start of the 2026/27 season.

The top flight has voted in favour of scrapping artificial surfaces, with clubs given a two-year grace period to plan for the phasing out of plastic parks. Livingston's relegation cut the number of them in the top division by half, while Kilmarnock had already confirmed their intention to get rid of theirs and return to grass in time for the 2025/26 campaign.

But now any Premiership hopefuls MUST play on grass from summer 2026 onwards. The motion to bin 5G was criticised by lower league outfits such as Falkirk, Raith Rovers and Hamilton Accies. The Invincible League One champions will have their sights set on a top flight return after promotion to the Championship, but know they'll only get one season there with their current pitch should they go up next year. Raith lost the playoff final over two legs to Ross County last weekend. And they'll also have to plan for life on turf if Ian Murray's men can go one better after the motion was passed by those at the top of the SPFL tree.

A statement read: "Premiership clubs have voted in favour of phasing out the use of artificial pitches in the SPFL top flight. Clubs in the Premiership had brought forward a resolution seeking to phase out artificial pitches in Scotland’s top division, which was issued to all Premiership clubs.

"The SPFL can confirm that the resolution has now passed. The SPFL Board has granted a two-year period to allow clubs with an artificial pitch to plan for the phasing out of artificial pitches in the top tier of Scottish football. This period of grace is in line with recommendations of the SPFL Competitions Working Group, which represents member clubs across the SPFL.

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