THERE are undeniable facts which must be raised when debating the pros and cons of artificial pitches and their place in Scottish football.

Players don’t like them. Even really good pitches which easily fit into the category of state-of-the-art. PFA Scotland didn’t need to have a vote to show that.

There is not a lot of money swirling around our game. Grass costs more to maintain in the long term and, so, 3G and 4G surfaces make sound economic sense.

There is zero appetite within the SPFL to tell any club who has gone down the route of artificial pitches to tear them up despite their unpopularity. They are here to stay.

Les Gray, the vice-chairman of Hamilton Academical is quite right that more will follow his own club’s example and grass will be replaced.

And clubs such as the Accies are fed up – they are far from alone – at being criticised for doing what is best for them.

Oh, and the pitch at New Douglas Park was always going to come bottom of any poll. As Scott Brown put it, the surface is “rubbish.”

We are left with a scenario which is not going to please everyone no matter where you stand on the argument. Clubs will continue to go plastic, players will complain about it, and any chance of a compromise seems unlikely.

Hamilton spent £750,000, a huge sum of money for the Lanarkshire club, on a new Greenfields MX pitch which they must hope will be met with, if not open arms, then certain open minds next season.

A study organised jointly by PFA Scotland, Sports Labs and the SFA found top-flight players gave the 3G turf an average score of just 1.18 out of five - worse even than the rutted patch found at League Two minnows Albion Rovers’ Cliftonhill home.

Kilmarnock were third bottom out of the 42. Livingston are replacing grass with 4G which means three clubs, a quarter if the Premiership, will play their home games on artificial pitches.

Brendan Rodgers spoke last season of such surface acting as an unwitting deterrent to players who may have considered Scotland a possible destination. Celtic defender Jozo Simunovic is not risked on such surfaces and is hardly the only one.

Gray is, of course, an advocate for doing away with grass and the recent PFA Scotland poll was never going to alter his thinking.

“The SFA have described their artificial pitch at Oriam in Edinburgh as world class and we have the exact same surface and if anything ours will be better,” said the SPFL board member. “We will have a sprinkler system and a better sub-base.

“Listen, I do take on and accept that our pitch has been criticised and that players have said they don’t like coming to our place because they haven’t played well. However, this is the future for Scottish football.”

For Hamilton, and this goes for the majority of clubs, it makes sense to pass on the grass.

“Our pitch doesn’t make us money but it does save us money,” said Gray. “We have ten teams training on it and were we unable to do that then we would have to pay for other facilities such as over at Ravenscraig.

“We have worked closely with Sports Lab to find what the best possible pitch is for us, and that is what we are putting down.

“We have seen data which disproves the argument players are more likely to pick up injuries on an artificial surface; indeed, more injuries are picked up on grass pitches.”

William Watson is the head groundsman at New Douglas Park and he revealed the process the club has gone through to give their own players the best possible surface to play on as they approached their fifth consecutive season in the Premiership.

“We have left no stone unturned in our drive to bring the best playing surface available to Hamilton Accies,” said Watson. “Over the past 18 months we have gone through a thorough process of data collection and club visits.

“Greenfields MX is widely used in elite sport across Europe. It is used in Holland by various top tier clubs including Vitesse, by English Premier League side Arsenal at their state-of-the-art London Colney training centre and, in Scotland, by Alloa Athletic.”

Interestingly, Alloa’s Recreation Park was rated 10th overall of the 42 clubs in the SPFL.

Wishart will never be convinced. So, too, the likes of Rodgers and Brown. However, plastic is here to stay.