CHECKING out the Charlton Athletic stadium before the fans were allowed in at 1.30pm got me thinking.

Here was yet another impressive Premiership stadium which would soon have 25,000 people inside creating a vibrancy and energy that becomes addictive to football fans.

Then a couple of hours later it would return to the state it was in as I looked around. Empty, quiet and crying out to be used.

For 13 days 22 hours every fortnight, as well as all summer, it remains in this useless manner along with the other 91 Premiership and Football League grounds.

With the nation lambasting politicians for providing precious little in the way of sporting facilities in this country three words came to mind. What a waste.

In an age when we can send men to the moon and little old ladies can communicate across the globe through cyber space it is beyond belief that football stadiums must lie dormant while the nation cries out for playing fields.

It was reported last week that a new type of artificial grass is being tested which could one day replace the natural stuff.

Unlike the old super bouncy plastic pitches it is apparently the same texture as grass but does not cut up, become too soft or too hard like current unpredictable pitches.

With a surface like this football stadiums could offer themselves to the community. Four five-a-side pitches in use at £10 an hour would be a cheap facility for the public and provide a nice extra income for the clubs.