Diggers move in and remove the old pitch
Harley Power Rake is used to finish the surface prior to turfing, with irrigation on new areas
Lindum 40mm turf in ‘Big Rolls’ ready for laying
“... you could pass your entire arm under the turf, there were no roots to hold the turf down”
work was now impossible with the season well under way. For the 2006-2007 and the 2007-2008 seasons as much work as possible was done in the couple of weeks gap between football and rugby but, again, what was achieved was the bare minimum required due to the ever present time factor. By January 2008 the pitch was in real
trouble with some of the wettest weather on record and with poor rootzone drainage, the pitch rapidly became water-logged and turned into a damaging quagmire, with pitch levels deteriorating rapidly. The problem was directly related to the
old, heavily compacted Desso pitch, which was now acting as an impenetrable membrane and effectively sealing off the drainage system below. The shallow, sodden rootzone was now sandwiched between the new turf and the old pitch beneath. Unable to cope with the extremely high rainfall, the pitch rapidly reached field capacity and became swamped with each cloud burst. Desperate aeration work around the clock by the groundstaff and the purchase of a protective cover for £110,000 just about saved the day, but critism was mounting in the press and from frustrated and infuriated visiting
Premier League teams unused to playing in such conditions.
“One particular corner of the pitch was especially bad and we decided to lift the turf and have a look at conditions underneath. We were astounded to find that you could pass your entire arm under the turf and there were just no roots to hold the turf down,” says Ian. “The pitch had stood up to over eighty football and rugby games in 2007-2008 and we just couldn’t wait until the end of the season to rip the whole thing out.” On Saturday 17th May the diggers moved in and removed the entire turf area and the old Desso sub layer to a
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