Stoke City get a Technical work out
Technical Surfaces, the UK's leading artificial pitch maintenance specialists, have recently carried out their specialist deep-cleaning Revite® on the 3G sports pitch in Stoke City FC's Academy Dome.
The facility, adjacent to the club's Britannia Stadium, was built in 2002 and boasts a two-thirds size rubber-crumb pitch, which is used for coaching at youth level from under 9's through to under 18's, as well as for training by Stoke City Ladies FC. With average weekly usage in excess of 25 hours, it is crucial to keep the pitch in peak condition.
Technical Surfaces have previously supplied the grounds team with machinery and equipment to complete a degree of the required maintenance in-house, and this is routinely utilised on both the indoor academy pitch and the club's 3G outdoor training facility at nearby Clayton Wood.
Alongside these everyday tasks of drag brushing, light decompaction and grooming being performed by Head Groundsman Andrew Jackson and his team, both pitches also require more specialist attention at regular intervals, to further ensure comprehensive decompaction and dirt removal from the infill.
Technical Surfaces' Revite® process provides a more intensive clean than can be achieved through regular sweeping, and should be completed either annually or every 2nd year as a minimum. The Revite® is designed to penetrate deeper into the carpet pile, removing any dust, debris and broken-down carpet fibres that have migrated lower into the rubber infill. Decompacting the infill, lifting the carpet pile and cleaning the top layer of infill in this way helps to preserve playing characteristics such as ball roll and bounce, traction and shock absorption.
To ensure consistency across their artificial turf facilities, Stoke City have also ordered this work to be completed on the outdoor pitch in summer 2012.
If you have a 3rd Generation surface and need help or advice on maintenance contact Technical Surfaces on Tel: 08702 400 700 and ask to speak to a Technical Manager.