Football Grounds - Pitches & Posts

Then and Now ....

Under pitch drains in themselves are of no use if the sub soil is impervious or the top soil compacted.

In the past football pitches were often used for events other than football matches such as fetes, parades, athletics, and, most common of all, grazing animals. Charges for the grazing helped to pay the club's bills and saved on grass cutting costs. There was also greater access to pitches by spectators from the terraces so that before and after the matches it was easier for people to walk over the turf. During the week the pitches became the training grounds.

Heavy use and abuse of pitches caused the soil to become compacted. This, combined with shortage of money and lack of expertise, frequently resulted in completely waterlogged pitches.

1925

Very few clubs employed a trained groundsman. A few labourers on a Saturday morning gave the pitch a quick forking over. In return the men were given free admission to the match in the afternoon.

Some early attempts to overcome pitch problems caused by the groundsman's worst enemy frost may not seem practical to the groundstaff of today. A favourite remedy to try to protect the pitch from frost was to cover it with straw.

Left: Forking the waterlogged pitch at White Hart Lane

Right: Tottenham laid down 3,000 bales of straw to protect the White Hart Lane pitch from frost before their Division One game with Aston Villa

1938

Often boys who were aspiring footballers served on the groundstaff.

Len Shackleton at the age of 16 was a member of the Arsenal ground staff earning 50 shillings (£2.50) a week. A year later George Allison Arsenal's manager, told him; "Go back to Yorkshire and get a job. You will never make the grade as a professional footballer."

Shackleton eventually played for Newcastle, Sunderland and England. He scored 126 goals in 384 league games.

1939 - 45

During the second World War it was not unusual for prisoners of war to be commandeered to clear the pitch in the event of snow.

It is easy to understand why in the early years of football the standard of the pitches was very much below that which we are accustomed to now.

1950's

Some clubs tried undersoil heating using electrical wires to combat ice and snow.

1958

Everton installed this system at Goodison Park: one of the first attempts to use technology to beat frost and ice but it was not successful.

1960

Arsenal installed a similar system at Highbury but again it was not successful. The ground staff found they could not spike the surface to drain the ground properly and flooding occurred.

1971

Leicester City installed a high air dome to protect the Filbert Street pitch from the worst of the weather.

It was 15 feet high at the centre.

It took 15 men two hours to lay out and inflate the cover using four electric fans.

It worked on the same principle as blowing up a hot air balloon. The 'tent' was abandoned in 1982.

Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa used another idea to protect the pitch. They installed gigantic plastic covers which could be rolled out over the pitch

However, they did not achieve what was hoped for. The plastic was easily torn and if the cover stayed on too long there was a danger of mould growing on the grass.

There is no point in heating, or protecting the pitch to ensure it is playable if the approaches to the ground are ice-bound and too dangerous to use. If it is not safe for the fans to gain access to the stands or the terraces games still have to be postponed.

The modern football pitches of the Premier and the Football League clubs get comparatively little use each week:

in thePremier Division only about 4 hours a week

in the other Divisions between 5 and 7 hours a week.

It can be assumed that if it was not for the bad weather all football clubs would have near perfect pitches on which to play.

Turf - Design and Technology

1929

The SportsTurf Research Institute (STRI) was formed. It is the main centre for research on grass surfaces in this country. Its objective is to help not only football, but all sports played on grass.

1982

The Football Association and the Football Trust funded special research to meet the particular needs of football. The Institute studies types of grass, methods of irrigation, fertilisation and drainage of football pitches. It even tests turf for football bounce. As yet there is no standard laid down for this but on a grass pitch it is usually about 30% - 35%.

This means a football dropped from a height of 10 meters will bounce back up to a height of 3 - 3.5 meters. The researchers also test the wear and tear on the pitch of different types of football boot studs. They measure pressures which impact the soil and forces which tear the surface of the pitch during a sliding tackle.

Artificial Pitches

If the most expensive grass pitch can only be used for about 20 hours a week the attraction of a plastic pitch with unlimited use is not hard to imagine.

1981

The 'plastic pitch' arrived. In Britain it was pioneered by Queen's Park Rangers at their Loftus Road ground in West London. It was laid at a cost of £300,000. Queen's Park Rangers anticipated a quick return on their investment by hiring out the ground regularly for sporting and other events without damage to the turf. Although expensive it could be used in all weathers and needed little maintenance.

The 'faultless' artificial turf after its installation is
inspected by Terry Venebles1985

QPR's experience encouraged Luton Town, Oldham Athletic and Preston North End to install 'plastic pitches'. Luton claimed their new pitch had transformed their relationship with their local community by providing much needed additional entertainment facilities as well as earning an extra £100,000 for the club from hiring it out for events.

1988

All the extra revenue brought to Loftus Road where they staged events such as hockey internationals, world title fights and pop concerts was evidently not worthwhile - they ripped up their 'plastic pitch' and reverted to natural grass.

The idea of using the ground all week is attractive to the club but if it is used for football and other events consideration must be given to the feelings of, and the effects on, all local residents. Things such as crowds, noise, traffic congestion, litter and vandalism night after night can cause very strong local resentment.

Some football managers believed the synthetic surface would encourage football skllls and give a truer picture of a player's ability to control the ball. However, there was considerable criticism from players who found the bounce of the ball and the speed at which it flew off the surface not to their liking.

1990

The Football League announced:

a total ban on the installation of synthetic pitches at League clubs

all First and Second Division League clubs with synthetic pitches must revert to natural grass by August 1991 for the start of the 1991/92 football season.

all Third and Fourth Division clubs must replace their synthetic pitches with natural grass by August 1995 for the start of the 1995/96 football season.

It now seems that English League Football will be played on natural grass pitches for the foreseeable future.

A hundred years ago players were lumbering about on soggy, bumpy pitches, trying to play football with a ball so heavy with water that some players actually died from heading it. Matches even finished with greatly reduced teams because players had to leave the game suffering from exhaustion. Now, the standard of pitches is so vastly improved that players are able to demonstrate their high degree of footballing skills on almost any league club ground in the country.