Checking out the turf...
Isn’t the World Cup fantastic?
I suspect there’s a divided reaction to that question. I
enjoy it but not for the usual reasons I suspect. I couldn’t tell you anything about the teams
or players and I’m not really that bothered who wins or loses. It’s the pitches
that interest me.
The football pitch is as much a part of the match as the
players, the ball and the goalposts. In
the gripping finale of a close match I’ll be commenting on the grass sward and
guessing the percentage of real/artificial grass and the composition of the sub
strata and drainage(usually sand or polypropylene) . I’m asked to leave the
room pretty often.
In my early gardening days when I worked for a local
council, one of my main responsibilities was marking out the football pitches. Armed
with my line marking machine with the squeaky wheel I would walk the pitch
covering the old washed out lime with some fresh. The lines were always broken
around the goal area as the grass had been worn away as well as some soil
disappearing, probably making its way into the changing room showers, boots and
washing machines. It was a mucky game especially in winter. I couldn’t
understand why they didn’t play football in summer when the ground was drier,
but that’s the time for cricket. So for
those of you interested in the grass here is a brief definition of the
composition.
Football Pitch Grass
You might have gathered by now that most professional
pitches are a mixture of real and artificial grass. This keeps things clean and
tidy compared to when the ball would land at the player’s feet in wet weather,
stop dead and disappear in the mud.
This is regulated by the Football Association.
The Football Associations have rules on the type of grass
that is acceptable for use during professional games. One of the first rules declares
that the pitch must be green; this doesn’t take into consideration about all of
the advertising paint that’s becoming all too common on the pitch. This is
because artificial turf can be used in places where the weather prohibits the
use of natural grass and there are all sorts of colours to choose from.
The FA’s rule book states, “The field of play must be wholly
natural or, if competition rules permit, a wholly artificial playing surface
except where competition rules permit an integrated combination of artificial
and natural materials (hybrid system)”. So that more or less covers every type
of grass - real or artificial. The top stadiums use a very specific blend of
real grass with artificial components as permitted by the FA.
Blending Turf
Described as a ‘sports playing field surface’, there are
common hybrid systems available in the game today. It is made up of a mixture
of natural grass and artificial fibres which pass the FA’s rules.
One company injects fibres into ready-made turf twenty
centimetres deep which covers about 3% of the entire surface of the pitch. As
the grass grows its roots intertwine with the artificial fibres and this
anchors the field of play. The company that makes it claims that this allows
for a solid, even structure of turf with better drainage than natural grass on
its own and improved ‘playing comfort’.
Some of the best known stadiums that use it include
Chelsea’s home ground, Stamford Bridge, Everton’s Goodison Park and perhaps the
most famous of all is Wembley Stadium and if it’s good enough for the FA’s
flagship ground no wonder other clubs have been quick to introduce it.
3G Pitches
Original artificial grass was called Astro Turf. It’s pretty much the same stuff you see in
garden centres now and after being laid on a cushion of sand had more sand
added to it (This was the 2G pitch). If you have any memory about playing on
this surface you would recall that when you fell over it was like sliding along
a large sheet of course 40-60 grit sandpaper.
The artificial turf sand has been replaced by a rubber crumb
infill (3G) and more shock absorbing underlay technology. The rubber crumb
mixture, which is made from recycled tyres, allows the surface to be played on
for around eighty hours every week. A significant improvement on the five hours
total that natural grass can cope with before it will struggle to recover. There
are a few health issues regarding the use of rubber which are being
investigated and a few countries are removing the pitches all together. The main advice we are given is to wash
ourselves after playing, to remove lime deposits too and the safest advice
given is “If you get the rubber in your mouth, don’t swallow it” You’d need to
empty your boots too.
A Growing Industry
Data from the major synthetic turf manufacturers operating
in the EU indicate that around 1,200–1,400 new football fields are installed
every year in the EU with over 40 a year installed in Ireland. Figures show 30
GAA pitches are also laid annually.
There’s a lot of money and technology in creating the
perfect playing pitch but thankfully you’ll still find muddy pitches and coats
as goalposts in parks and open spaces and if you want a kick about in wet weather,
we’re lucky enough to have plenty of beaches not too far away.
if you are still reading and would like a bit more information about pitches (especially GAA pitches then you'll find this article from the Croke Park website very interesting
