There's no such thing as the perfect football pitch, says Leeds United Women captain Catherine Hamill

But a grass pitch has to be really pristine for me to prefer it over a reliable artificial surface.

My Leeds United Women teammates and I were disappointed that our Division One North game against Norton and Stockton Ancients was postponed this weekend for a waterlogged pitch.

Over the past couple of seasons, we’ve played on some awful grass pitches.

I will never forget our 3-0 win over Bradford City back in 2019 - the mud was unbelievable. I don’t mind a slightly sticky surface but the game was ridiculously slow because, even with studs on, you couldn’t turn quickly or move about how you wanted to.

That said, I gave myself a pretty impressive 3G burn at training last week, so you can’t really win either way. Aaliyah Nolan and I went for the same ball during a crossing drill and I ended up falling down. It wasn’t too bad at the time, but it really stings in the shower after.

I always try to attack training with the same energy as I would in a game but, when it comes to matchday, there’s always a little something extra to give.

Emotions are running high on a Sunday afternoon. I find it quite easy to rise above it when an attacker grabs a fistful of my shirt, though it was a bit frustrating when a Norton player ripped my shorts up during an FA Cup match and the referee had nothing to say about it.

I don’t generally get annoyed by players I come up against. More often, I’ll be annoyed at myself if they’ve got the better of me, even if they’ve been aggressive in winning the ball. I should have beaten her, I should have got there first - that’s what I’m thinking, rather than being wound up by my opponent.

The one thing that I really hate, though, is if a player comes in with a flying challenge as, if your knee or ankle goes, you could be out for ages.

You’re much more prone to injuries on astroturf or 3G surfaces than grass, which is a big reason why some people don’t like them.

So there’s no such thing as the perfect football pitch, though the one at Elland Road is pretty much as good as it gets. The groundsmen take such care over it.

I’ve played on it a couple of times before. It feels much bigger than it looks so, when you first kick off the game you’re asking yourself, ‘how on earth am I going to get all the way over there?’ It means you get more time on the ball, of course, but I’m likely to be blowing by sixty minutes in.

This weekend, we’re playing on the familiar turf of our home ground at Tadcaster Albion for the semi-final of the County Cup against Bradford. After we were beaten by our West Yorkshire rivals in the league in September, we like to think we know what to expect, but anything can change as the season progresses. We’ll definitely be well up for it.

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