Glasgow Warriors' Scotstoun Stadium to get artificial pitch

The club suffered major disruption this winter when heavy rain rendered the Scotstoun pitch unplayable for several months. They had to move two games to Kilmarnock FC’s Rugby Park and the home 1872 Cup tie against Edinburgh had to be switched to BT Murrayfield.

Warriors announced today that councillors on Glasgow City Council’s Executive Committee will this week be asked to approve the investment works, which will see a synthetic playing surface installed, improve athletics and rugby training facilities, create a new events throws area and improve the existing outdoor running track.

The Glasgow Warriors statement added that “the proposed artificial pitch will meet World Rugby guidelines and improvements to the adjacent training pitch will also provide an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) compliant throws area for training and events”.

The running track will also be improved by the project which will be funded by Glasgow City Council, Scottish Rugby/Glasgow Warriors and sportscotland.

Speaking to glasgowwarriors.org, Glasgow Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend said: “It’s fantastic news that we’re close to securing a brand new pitch at Scotstoun for next season.

“We’ve played a lot on the Cardiff Arms Park surface over the last few years and we enjoyed playing on the Rugby Park pitch last season.

“We aim to play high tempo rugby and this state-of-the-art artificial surface will help us produce a faster game.”

Glasgow Warriors Managing Director, Nathan Bombrys, said: “After the challenges of last season, it’s great that we’re close to installing a pitch that will give us a consistently excellent surface all season, to play the exciting rugby that we like to play.

“The development will benefit the athletics clubs that we share Scotstoun with us, by providing better facilities and more access.

“We believe the new artificial pitch could also open up opportunities to bring some additional rugby matches and events to Scotstoun, which will assist our efforts to grow our sport in the west of Scotland.”

Scottish Rugby’s Chief Operating Officer, Dominic McKay, said: “Scottish Rugby has made a significant investment towards this new artificial pitch, to ensure we have the best possible surface for our players to train and play on.

“We see this investment as part of a longer term development of the stadium, which we are working closely with Glasgow Life on and we believe this new pitch will be an excellent addition for rugby and athletics, while helping to safeguard future Glasgow Warriors matches.”