Our Football Pitch Diaries

10 Easy Facts About Sports Pitch Described


(‘Synthetic Turf Study in Europe, 2012’, KPMG). Keeping documented records of what takes place on a pitch it confirms what has been done, allows for budget planning and control, complies with funding requirements (where applicable) and can assist in mitigating compensation claims, especially spurious ones. The correct maintenance and deployment of non-socketed goalposts is an area that is relatively easy to comply with.


If you are interested in learning how to effectively maintain 3G pitches, the IOG and its partners are delivering a number of courses during July and August. Please check our website (www.iog.org) for dates, venues and fees. Chris Gray is head of education at the IOG. Over a decade ago Redexim Charterhouse teamed up with industry experts to develop a range of artificial surface maintenance equipment and today there are Redexim models to suit all applications – from a light surface brush to a full deep clean, with product certification by the Synthetic Turf Council.


The sieve filters the infill material back onto the playing surface while retaining the debris in a lightweight hopper that can easily be removed for emptying. A PTO-driven version makes for easier removal of larger amounts of dirt, debris and detritus as the rotary speed of the brush can be varied - sports pitch.


The Replay Revive procedure removes contaminants and reduces compaction. First, all large debris that has been left to decompose on the surface, to inhibit drainage, is removed. A self-propelled rotary brush unit then penetrates the surface to a defined depth to lift and filter the infill. The integral turbine vacuum extracts the fine contaminates before a rear-mounted, hydraulically-controlled brush passes over the surface to redistribute the infill.


What Does Rugby Pitch Do?


Up until a few years ago the picture in many places was very similar. The sports clubs, in general as today, these were football clubs, had either a clay pitch or a natural grass pitch or both – the clay pitch for training (in rural areas, often a second grass pitch) and the natural grass pitch for matches and sporting events.


This evened out the conditions in a regional context if the condition of the sports facilities were not taken into account (artificial turf pitch replacement).The picture today is essentially somewhat different with artificial turf pitches, hybrid sport turf pitches, natural grass pitches and clay playing surfaces. All these have advantages and disadvantages but they are not really balanced out.


As the clubs do not want to lose members however, and in fact perhaps even want to gain new ones, modernisation of playing fields are pushed ahead in many places. But the question remains for many community authorities and clubs; which is the best suited surface for which sports facilities? A growing number of options and suppliers are available in the market.


In the following, the different kinds of artificial, hybrid sport and natural grass pitches are compared to each other according to the criteria given above. Duration of use should be taken as the first criterion as the different surfaces already differ greatly in this point. Clubs looking for a sports surface which can be used more than 1200 hours a year can only really look at an artificial turf pitch where more than 2000 hours of play a year are easily possible.


The 7-Minute Rule for Artificial Pitch Replacement


This means that an accurate overview of the number of hours use throughout the year needs to be drawn up in order to precisely calculate the number of hours of use. Money is naturally the number one criterion many cases. There are also some differences with regard to conversion costs.


Artificial Turf Pitch ReplacementSports Pitch
Rugby PitchSports Pitch

If some elements of the existing sports field are still usable, this can reduce the conversion costs. The least expensive concept is known as "green ashes" which means the direct transformation of a clay surface into a natural grass pitch. The clay surface is not removed, it is mixed with sand and fertiliser and hardy sport-resistant grass planted.


Conversion to a "conventional" natural grass pitch, sown from seed or laid as a roll of turf, usually costs in the region of 170,000 – 250,000 Euros. Hybrid sport turf pitches cost around 250,000 to 350,000 Euros depending on system and artificial turf pitches around 400,000 to 600,000 Euros. The fairy tale about artificial turf pitches needing no maintenance work remains obstinately lodged in many people's minds, despite many efforts to counter this.




Calculations have been made by the KGSt (German community agency for administrative management) which report annual maintenance costs of natural grass pitches (and therefore hybrid sports pitches) to be around 2.24 €/m² and for artificial turf pitches 1.92 €/m². These figures are collected from surveys and show that the difference in care and maintenance costs between natural and artificial turf is not as large as often assumed.


Rumored Buzz on Sports Pitch


Pitch ReplacementSports Pitch

While, for instance, hockey sports are now played completely on artificial turf pitches, a natural grass pitch in an optimum condition is still the most favoured surface for a game of football. A hybrid sport turf pitch may cause a different playing feeling or ball behaviour, depending on the actual type used, although it is very similar to a natural grass pitch.


On third and fourth generation artificial turf pitches, ball behaviour is very natural and the playing feeling reported as positive by the majority of players. Here again, development work is still oriented towards natural grass pitches which will probably continue to take first place in the list with regard to this criterion.


Artificial TurfArtificial Pitch Replacement


In very intense sunshine an artificial turf pitch may become uncomfortably hot, so that a good irrigation system is also worthwhile for this kind of pitch. All playing surfaces are slippery in the rain and a good drainage system is always important. The advantage of an artificial turf pitch compared to other playing surfaces is that it needs no recuperation time after lasting periods of heat or rain (football pitch).

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