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By Lee Jackson in Football on 10th Jun 2004 11:05
Summer in the City
By Lee Jackson
Following our final league game on May 15th, we crammed 8 corporate games into 48 hours. The reason for this was that we were holding the FA Summer Tournament with the national teams of England, Iceland and Japan all competing as part of England's preparations for Euro 2004. Straight after the last corporate game, Mallinsons of Ormskirk came in and carried out a scarifying of the pitch with the Koro, using scarifying blades to a depth of 5mm.
The pitch was then cleaned up with their TM5 which picked up the debris that had fallen onto the surface during the operation. On the Friday, we fertilised the pitch with 15 bags of 12-6-6 granular fertiliser and hoped for a nice green colour in time for the tournament.
Five days later and we walked in to work to what was a pattern of green and yellow bands across the pitch. Upon closer inspection we found bits of stones in the surface which could have only have come in with the fertiliser and partially blocked the spreader whilst in operation. Whilst at the time the feed seemed to be coming out evenly, it was now apparent that this was not the case.
With the colour slowly coming back, Iceland decided they wanted to train two days before the game instead of the day before. They chose to do this at 6pm on the Friday, which wasn't ideal but with rain forecast for the following day and Japan training on Saturday morning, it actually worked out well in the end. As part of the tournament, and in line with UEFA guidelines, they were allowed an hour each - Iceland had 1 hour 35 minutes and Japan 1 hour 20.
The pattern was easy to do with the Toro 2000 that we have, taking just 1 ¼ hours to cut each time. As with Sunday's game, the managers differed on whether the pitch was to be watered at half time so, as they didn't agree, the pitch dried up sooner than we would have liked. Following a 1-1 draw, we divotted for ½ an hour as England warmed down for 25 minutes after the game. For the rest of the week no-one else trained on the pitch until Friday morning when Iceland had another session. Initially we had refused the request to train as they wanted to come at 4pm but, after agreeing on one hour only at 10am, they accepted. They would have trained for longer, despite saying they were only on for an hour, had the irrigation not mysteriously came on and disturbed their session. 
Following this we divotted and cut the pitch before heavily watering it before the following day's game.
On Saturday the pitch was cut, marked and watered for three hours as per the England team's requirements, with the option to water at half time also agreed by the two managers. As it happened, the England squad stayed out at half time so we couldn't water anyway, but with Mallinsons due back on the Monday that wasn't such a bad thing. The game again went well and the pitch played well also, considering it was the 6th day out of the last 8 that one of the three national teams had used it for training or for a game. It is also worth noting that for the last half hour England replace Paul Robinson with Ian Walker who left his own mark on the pitch in the form of his own mark on the six yard line. After the game the goals came down as England warmed down for around twenty minutes, in readiness for Sunday…
On Sunday the pitch was solid tined to a depth of 100mm at 75mm centres, this was done by ourselves after a quick cut with the Toro.
Gary and Matt from Mallinsons arrived on the Monday to scarify the pitch twice with the Koro and then remove any surface debris with the Richard Long scarifier/collector, so that in effect the total amount of times the pitch had been scarified in the last fortnight was four.
Mallinsons came back after we had done this and reseeded the pitch using the Charterhouse Vreedo machine, sowing 8 bags of Barenbrugs Bar7 into the whole surface. Following this the pitch had a well deserved watering!!!
Just three days after the renovation work was completed, the stadium is to be converted into one of Europe's biggest outdoor stadium venues as we play host to The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and 58,000 fans on June 18th, but that is another story…….
Read more articles in Football,
by Lee Jackson
or from June 2004.
There are 25 comments on this article
10 Jun 2004 by Peter Edmondson
Great article.... loved the striping, interesting to note FIFA / UEFA are on to the big one.
10 Jun 2004 by Groundsmaiden
A great read Lee, especially interested to note Ian Walker's antics and the reappearance of the 'irrigation ghost' who seems to love interrupting those long-winded warm-ups ;o)
10 Jun 2004 by plastic terminator
Whats all this about outlawing certain mowing patterns?
Is it April 1st already?
Where did you here this please tell.
10 Jun 2004 by Lee J
The FA/UEFA assessor told us-just as well as we are the main stadium for next summers womens european championships
11 Jun 2004 by Plastic Terminator
Uefa can say what they like, i'll continue to do whatever pattern i like some of which will be seen by millions this summer.
Its like telling a chef how to arrange the food on his plate, an artist what picture to paint, a dancer what routine to use, its another uefa bullshit reccomendation. Such practice has had no advrese effect on the game of football since time began. If they push it I can feel an Industry strike coming on, lets down tools, the keeper can look after the pitch.
On a serious note certain standard 5 metre bands for rugby make sense and can aid players in positioning etc, yet having said that there is no law anywhere in any country for any sport that lays down rules that even say a mowing pattern has to exist let alone what type it is. There are certain types of grass that don't stripe up well or at all, whats the rule there? It really is one of the most bizzare and bullshit things I have heard in this Industry.
WHAT HAS THE EDITOR GOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS?
11 Jun 2004 by Lee J
Dont shoot the messenger, I am only passing on what I was told!!!
Only kidding-it is a bit poor when things like this give people things to do-surely their time would be put to better use elsewhere!
11 Jun 2004 by Groundsmaiden
I feel an editor's poll's in order here, or possibly an article. Should groundsmen retain their right to 'explore their creative side'? Patterns, stripes or blocks, does it make ANY difference to the football that's played on it? Do certain managers/teams insist on 'their' pitch being presented in a certain way? Could make interesting reading.....!
11 Jun 2004 by bob the builder
Did you ask UEFA for their reasons or ask them to justify what they were saying, or because they were wearing a suit did you just agree, are you a nodding donkey? Too many of us just do what we are told, lets make a stand and not keep nodding our heads.
11 Jun 2004 by Lee J
We were told on the Sunday-we had subsequent games on the Tuesday and Saturday-both of which had circles and diagonal lines in the pattern, so far from agree and bow to pressure for a rule that doesnt even come in until next season, we carried on as normal-not acting like a nodding donkey as you stated.
This will not concern us next season as we are not in europe so someone else can be the 'nodding donkey' for the time being. I did not agree and said it was a bit daft to the official and carried on with my circles etc.
11 Jun 2004 by Hipper
I would say there is a case for consistency of cutting patterns if it helps the officials (linesmen, referees), and could also be used to help prevent 'goalkeeper damage' (a la Ian Walker).
The case against consistency is the joy we groundsman particularly, but Joe public also, get from seeing the likes of Lee's original efforts.
On another point, would teams use external, nearby warm up facilities, if they were available? Or areas off the pitch if there was a big enough area. Warm up (and warm down maybe) damage seems to be an increasing problem in all stadia sports.
Anyway, well done to you, Lee for the pitch, and the article.
11 Jun 2004 by Lee J
Thank you Hipper-though the credit must go to the whole of the groundstaff-without a great team effort, it would have been that bit more hectic and difficult at times than it was in the end!
11 Jun 2004 by Mart
Top article Lee and pitch to match. I guess most of us on here can only dream about the facilities and equipment you and others alike have at your disposal. In my own little way I make a fairly decent enough presentation for youth football. But when you're stuck with old trailed gangs and a 25 year old lawn boy rotary, you can't expect too much. Trouble is the layman see's places like Lee's stadium and think you can also do that with next to nothing. Just being able to call someone in with a Koro would be a blessing.
Just need to add a few more things to my wish list prior to the next committee meeting!
21 Jun 2004 by mark derby cty fc
i thought the pitch looked excellent and a credit to our industry,we must get someone to make representations for us with the football leagues or whoever and also lets discuss it at the seminar in july.see you then lee hopefully.
21 Jun 2004 by Anonymous
Is it coincidence, or did FIFA/UEFA decide that all the venues for Euro 2004 should have the pitch the same pattern-18 shades widthways- and also the exact same goalpost/backpost and black nets at each venue? I am sure it wasnt coincidence, but meddling where wasnt needed or necessary.
24 Jun 2004 by paul
uefa wanted to create uniformity at all its venues for the tournament which was easy on the eye, of use to linesmen ,tv and footballers also all the pitches were cut at the same height at the same time of day and watered to a cut off time. all there after is consistancy which surely is somthing we should be aiming to achieve to kill off the threat of artificial football pitches. in england we produce a very high standard of pitch compared to most of europe but i think we will all agree on the whole the portugese have done a good job.
26 Jun 2004 by Anonymous
do you still say they have done a good job-uefa wanting uniformity should have meant more watering in case of extra tme and penalties surely?
27 Jun 2004 by paul
i thought once again the pitch looked superb when you have 48 players from 2 nations training on the pitch the night before practiceing penalties for a fair amount of time it is always going to cause you problems. do you leave it do you returf either way isnt a solution, leaving it isnt good enough, turf wouldnt be stable and would dry out to quickly in the heat, there has been some uncalled for comments made in the press and the only solution in the future is to stop the training the night before because it disturbs the pitch and can have a bearing on the outcome the following night. if we dont stand together as one voice artificial pitches will win, we must promote sensible pre match use, warm ups,no pre match training, good stadium design and not stab each other in the backs.
27 Jun 2004 by Paul k (THFC)
Agree with you Paul i thought that pitch looked good for the game considering the circumstances. What happened with the penalty spot was a classic case of pitch abuse instead of pitch use by the players. I dont know what construction the pitches in portugal are but if they are sand based without reinforcement then areas like penalty spots ,corner arcs will crumble quickly due to the coarse nature of the material. The strangest issue for me was the players said that they had problems with the spot the previous night -i want to know if they lodged a complaint then? Also why didnt our first penalty taker knowing the spots were iffy check the ground a bit more carefully before taking his kick. The powers that be can stearotype the game as much as they like but players still have to adjust to conditions sometimes. Well done with the pitch lee.
27 Jun 2004 by Anonymous
Was the patch retufed as we are led to blieve anyway?
Surely if the penalty takers were going to have problems, it would have been towards the end of the shootout, rather than at the start?
27 Jun 2004 by Anonymous
Was the patch retufed as we are led to blieve anyway?
Surely if the penalty takers were going to have problems, it would have been towards the end of the shootout, rather than at the start?
27 Jun 2004 by Anonymous
Was the patch retufed as we are led to blieve anyway?
Surely if the penalty takers were going to have problems, it would have been towards the end of the shootout, rather than at the start?
27 Jun 2004 by Anonymous
Was the patch retufed as we are led to blieve anyway?
Surely if the penalty takers were going to have problems, it would have been towards the end of the shootout, rather than at the start?
27 Jun 2004 by PT
Everyone was on target except beckham (idiot/pre madonna). He did exactly the same thing against france and turkey. He uses traxions which we all know ofer no stabilty when you lean your feet over the way beckham does when he strikes the ball.
He knew the ground had eroded and was not stable yet did not compensate for that.As for the spot something should have been in place with the groundstaff pre tournament, these matches always go to et and penalties. This is certainly more ammo for plastic etc, its simply not good enough to say the grounds were good except for the penalty spots, its just like England were ok except for a couple of penalty misses. Its in this life that the straw breaks the camels back.
Yes we must be positive and promote ourselves, but here something obvious has been neglected / overlooked its sloppy. I had bad penalty spots before in competitions but I did something about it mid tounament.
27 Jun 2004 by Paul K (THFC)
Spot on (or off) with your comments about Beckham PT he should have been more wary. Also you hope you try and cover for worst case scenarios like a penalty spot getting a years worth of use in two nights. At spurs we are lucky that we have a reinforcement system in the pitch , but even with this players still kick crap out of it in warm ups at half time etc etc. They choose to do so they have to accept a portion of the blame for any incident that crops up bacause of this. As well as trying to improve the spots coaxing and trying to educate the players into sensible usage is the other important factor in a situation like this. Hopefully now the groundsman in portugal has done something about his penalty spot mid tournament.
24 Jul 2004 by PLASTIC TERMINATOR
IN REGARD TO MOWING PATTERNS, JUST GOT TOLD BY OLYMPIC COMMITEE REPS THAT FIFA INSIST ON STRAIGHT LINES WIDTHWAYS FOR OLYMPICS FOOTBALL. THE REASON IS SO REFERES CAN USE THE LINES TO HELP JUDGE OFFSIDE. (THEY NEED MORE THAN THAT TO IMPROVE OFFSIDE DECISIONS!) THEY SAID I CAN DO WHATEVER PATTERN I LIKE SO LONG AS IT HAS A STRAIGHT LINE GOING WIDTHWAYS ACROSS 18 YARD BOX! THAT KIND OF NARROWS DOWN THE OPTIONS A BIT THEN. ITS STILL A #^#*@* RULE. ARE WE GOING TO TOW THE FIFA LINE? WILL I TOW THE LINE? ARE WE GOING TO FIGHT FIFA ON THIS ONE?
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