Trader Posted 16 May, 2009 Share Posted 16 May, 2009 1.25 Saturday afternoon and I am watching Man U v Arsenal on the box. I've stopped now cos I don't really care and its lunch at the Test Match. But the one thing that struck me - as it ALWAYS does at SMS is the perfect state of the pitch. It seems to be the same story at all clubs these days. Its May FFS - the end of a long hard season. I remember when all clubs' pitches this time of year were mud and sand deserts with about three blades of grass on them. Some were truly horrendous - anybody remember the Baseball Ground? I have a Saints programme from January 10th 1959 (v. Blackpool FA Cup Round 3) and I quote from dear old Ted's programme notes: "Last week I am afraid the Swindon mud, plus three defensive mistakes, cost us the points" Can you imagine some of today's Premiership prima donnas playing on some of the awful pitches that were the norm back then? What I want to know is - how does the modern groundsman produce and maintain these brilliant pitches - what's changed? Anyone know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyboy_Saint Posted 16 May, 2009 Share Posted 16 May, 2009 In our case you can argue that very little football has been played on st mary's pitch this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicko Posted 16 May, 2009 Share Posted 16 May, 2009 Looking after pitches is a science these days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonswan Posted 17 May, 2009 Share Posted 17 May, 2009 Some technical details about the Liberty Stadium here. Although voted best in CCC this year I don't think there's much if anything between it and St Mary's, but it does host Ospreys rugby as well as Swansea FC. This bit surprised me when I first read about it: "Desso GrassMaster Reinforcement Approximately 20 million artificial grass fibres are sewn into the pitch, 20mm apart and looped to a depth of 200mm. The Desso is sewn in order for the plant roots to entwine and develop around the fibre, guaranteeing maximum stability." It became a bit of a topic of discussion earlier in the season when three SCFC players received bad cruciate ligament injuries in a month! Martinez decided it was not the pitch just very very bad luck. I think we can assume, as Dicko says above, that the actual day-to-day care of the pitch is also an extremely technical job as well. The old vetch field of course always was inclined to be either rock hard after a frost or waterlogged in the rain, and a desert by May, because it was just a cabbage field with some grass on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicko Posted 17 May, 2009 Share Posted 17 May, 2009 You mention the Baseball Ground Isn't that where they had to re-paint the penalty spot because nobody could see it??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted 17 May, 2009 Author Share Posted 17 May, 2009 Fascinating stuff. Pity they can't get Wembley right - I don't buy all the excuses, they don't seem to have any trouble at similar stadia worldwide. They need to dig it up down to the foundations and start again - not just re-lay it yet again. Not that I know what I'm talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Martini Posted 17 May, 2009 Share Posted 17 May, 2009 Fascinating stuff. Pity they can't get Wembley right - I don't buy all the excuses, they don't seem to have any trouble at similar stadia worldwide. They need to dig it up down to the foundations and start again - not just re-lay it yet again. Not that I know what I'm talking about. They do. The Amsterdam Arena hasn't had a proper pitch since it came into use in 1996. The problem there is that there's not enough sunlight coming through because of the retractable roof that does't open very far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted 17 May, 2009 Author Share Posted 17 May, 2009 They do. The Amsterdam Arena hasn't had a proper pitch since it came into use in 1996. The problem there is that there's not enough sunlight coming through because of the retractable roof that does't open very far. Yes, but Wembley doesn't have a retractable roof, so its hardly a similar stadium, is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Martini Posted 17 May, 2009 Share Posted 17 May, 2009 (edited) Yes, but Wembley doesn't have a retractable roof, so its hardly a similar stadium, is it? The stands are very high which blocks a lot of sun. Otherwise I don't know, they should be able to sort it. Edit: I just checked some pics of Wembley and the roof is quite wide. In that respects I think the actual opening in the roof is a similar size to that of the Amsterdam Arena. Edited 17 May, 2009 by Saint Martini Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint In Exile Posted 17 May, 2009 Share Posted 17 May, 2009 Yes, but Wembley doesn't have a retractable roof, so its hardly a similar stadium, is it? Think you'll find it does!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OttawaSaint Posted 20 May, 2009 Share Posted 20 May, 2009 A lot of it is the advancement of genetic techniques in producing strains of grass that are hardier, need less water and sunlight, and have more blades per seed than the common garden variety grass... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Landrew Posted 20 May, 2009 Share Posted 20 May, 2009 (edited) Can't remember who ex-Saints groundsman, Dave Roberts went to work for [i think it was for some particular national sporting association], but he'd know how to fix the Wembley pitch, maximum sunlight or minimum sunlight, I'm confident of that. Oh dear, just found this old memory: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/2653395.stm Edited 20 May, 2009 by St Landrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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