SURFACE TENSION
Now Brown complains about Hampden pitch
SCOTT BROWN has demanded the SFA crack down on the condition of pitches after claiming Celtic were deliberately hampered by an unwatered surface during the second half of Saturday’s Scottish Cup final. Leading Motherwell 2-0 at the interval, Brendan Rodgers’ side saw the match out to become the first club in Scottish football history to win back-to-back clean sweeps. But the Parkhead skipper believes his side were prevented from making the outcome more emphatic because the Hampden
sprinkler system wasn’t turned on at the interval — to hinder Celtic’s passing game. Celtic were also up in arms after their trip to Tynecastle at the start of this month, when their victory was overshadowed by their complaints about the length of the grass. Unlike in England where rules decree that ‘the height of the pitch grass shall not exceed 30mm’ and irrigation is covered by the need for clubs to ‘take all reasonable steps to maintain its pitch in good condition,’ Scotland, presently, has no such directives. Brown feels appropriate steps must now be taken for the wider good of the game. ‘Yeah, if you look down in England, I think that’s where we’re going wrong in Scotland,’ he said. ‘Everyone will try anything (in Scotland to stop us). They’ll grow the grass, they don’t water it, but down in England there’s rules for these things. They want to see top-quality football and that’s maybe where the Scottish game has gone wrong — and that’s where the SFA maybe have to step up their game.’ It is understood that any decision to water the Hampden surface does not fall within the jurisdiction of the SFA or Hampden Park Limited. The issue was raised at the pre-match operations meeting with both clubs effectively holding the right to veto the standard procedure.
Sportsmail understands, however, that neither Celtic nor Motherwell objected to the pitch being watered as planned. Brown, though, was adamant that the pitch wasn’t watered during the interval. ‘Motherwell are a very honest team,’ he said. ‘They play long, direct, very physical, but we play football the proper way. We get it down on the floor. ‘They didn’t water the pitch at half-time to try and stop us playing but it didn’t stop us. We still tried to play our game.’ With Celtic having now claimed each of the last six domestic trophies, Brown knows their rivals will return in July with renewed designs on ending the champions’ dominance. Asked about the prospect of a stronger challenge from a Rangers side now under the watch of Steven Gerrard, Brown said: ‘We respond by winning games. We’ve been to Ibrox a few times and we’ve won a lot. We’ve enjoyed that place as well. And when we bring it back to Celtic Park, it’s going to be a better pitch next season, so that’ll suit our game. ‘The first one for us is we’ve got to try and get to the Champions League. We need to keep this trophy (Scottish Cup), keep the league as well. We push on from there. ‘The stats were maybe not as impressive this year but we got Europe after Christmas. That was a goal we ticked off. ‘There were too many draws this season and too many defeats. So next season, we’ll work on that, we’ll get better. And there’ll be a few additions to the squad.’ Having become the first team to complete the double Treble, Brown is not discounting the possibility of going one better. ‘You never know what can happen,’ he added. ‘Nobody expected us to do it once, nobody expected us to do it twice and who knows about the third time. ‘Everyone wants to beat us. But we come to Hampden and we fancy our chances. ‘It’s a big park. Usually it’s good for us. It’s been a special place over the last couple of years. ‘But now, we just push on. Next season is a different opportunity for everybody. ‘We’ve got the Champions League to try and get to and that’s where this club deserves to be but we need to make sure we put in the hard work first.’