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The FA are set to approve the use of plastic pitches in the FA Cup proper rounds, paving the way for their widespread use across football.
A report in today's Daily Express says a 12 man committee at the FA voted unanimously to allow plastic surfaces in the FA Cup up to the Semi-Final, where they had previously been banned after the Fourth Qualifying Round.
The paper reports that the news should avert Maidstone's threatened legal fight with the Conference over being allowed promotion with their 3G surface. The £340,000 surface is said to have paid for itself in a year with rental income and the use by a 65 player Academy, with the paper commenting:
'Maidstone’s success, one Conference board member revealed, was the reason that they were reluctant to give the Stones a green light without stronger leadership from the higher echelons of the game.
It was not because they feared the Kent club would be the exception, but more the concern that dozens more would follow suit.'
