No plastic pitch for Hampden

Scottish football won’t follow rugby’s lead by installing a plastic pitch at Hampden.

Instead, the famous Mount Florida ground will go Dutch!

A hybrid pitch is about to be installed at Murrayfield, the national rugby stadium, which has had serious problems with the playing surface all season.

Featuring a blend of real grass and artificial fibres, it is a modern, high-tech solution adopted after the old surface got damaged by a parasitic infection.

English Premier League giants Arsenal play on a very similar surface at the Emirates.

And Celtic have given it a vote of confidence, insisting they have no worries about playing their Champions League qualifiers at Murrayfield in July and August.

Celtic Park will not be available at the time as it is booked for use in the Commonwealth Games.

Hampden Park is, like Murrayfield, also due to be returfed after the extensive work carried out to transform facilities into a state-of-the-art athletics stadium for the Games.

But bosses will resist the temptation to go hybrid in favour of sticking with grass.

The Glasgow ground, first opened at the present site in 1903, is steeped in tradition, having hosted decades of internationals and showpiece club games, including European Finals.

The view was taken that no change was required.

It is understood grass for the new pitch will be grown in Holland before being flown into the country for installation in the south side.

Seen as the experts in the field, Dutch grass is widely used around Europe, and pitches were prepared in Holland for the Euro 12 Championships in Poland and Ukraine.

Such is the size of the operation, Scotland won’t actually get the chance to play on the new pitch until 2015.

The country’s European Championship qualifiers against Georgia on October 11 and the Republic of Ireland on November 14 will be played at Ibrox and Celtic Park respectively.

National manager Gordon Strachan has been relaxed about playing the qualifiers away from Hampden, stressing the benefits of the grounds that will host the games in its place.

Indeed, a 60,000 Celtic Park sell-out is expected for the visit of the Republic, led by former Celtic favourites Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane.