Monday 4 June 2018 14:52, UK
Stirling Albion are today celebrating being named as the best club in Scotland - for the quality of their pitch.
The League Two side came out on top after a study of the playing surfaces at all 42 of the Scottish football league sides, and Stirling groundsman Graeme Glen received the Groundsman of the Year award.
Hamilton's New Douglas Park pitch has been branded as the worst in the country, with visiting players clearly not enjoying the plastic pitch.
For once, both Celtic and Rangers found themselves way off the pace in the league table. Celtic Park was ranked 11th in the standings, while Ibrox was found to have the 14th best pitch.
Players were asked to rate the pitch after every away game on a specially commissioned app called PitchRater APP.
The study was a joint venture between PFA Scotland, the Scottish FA and Sports Lab, a company specialising in sports surface development and testing.
Peterhead came second in the study and Queen's Park were third, meaning lower league clubs held all of the top three places.
Motherwell were rated as having the best pitch in the Premiership.
Fraser Wishart, chief executive of PFA Scotland, said: "Too often players' views are overlooked within football. In this case alterations are made to pitches and different surfaces laid without any thought of, or consultation with, our members.
"It is often forgotten that the pitch is our members' place of work and for that reason we are delighted to partner in this ground-breaking research with Sports Labs and the Scottish FA."
The parties involved in the study will now sit down with the clubs to discuss recommendations to improve the standard of playing surfaces in Scotland.
