“All my senior staff come from a grounds management or greenkeeping background and, as such, the whole team are well informed and able to understand the needs of a modern sportsturf manager”
installed, all of which were marked and their position noted to ensure they did not get damaged during the reconstruction.”
Close-u up of the fibrelastic surface
Once initial cultivation was completed, the new Fibrelastic rootzoone material was applied, in this case over 350 tonnes, to replenish any material lost during the removal of the surface with the Koro TopMaker. “It is important to use our specially adapted Raycam Speedresser, which is capable of handling this type of material without bridging or blocking as work progresses.” “The evenly spread material can then be integrated into the top l00mm by further cultivation, normally with a rotary harrow,” says Carl. “At this stage, visual inspection
will dictate how many passes with the cultivator is required to produce an evenly blended rootzone. The final pass will be made and levels trimmed to be consistent with those of the original construction.” “Consolidation will be required
next. This is a vital aspect of the works and, as work progresses, it may be necessary to irrigate at this stage to maintain a degree of moisture in the immediate surface, preventing the separation of fibres. Fines in the rootzone can also find their way onto the surface as a dusty residue if irrigation is not available, causing problems later in the season by impeding surface drainage.” Fine finishing is a vital aspect of achieving the end result. Carl has perfected this operation and is
Newcastle going soft?
Newcastle United’s decision to install the first ever fibrelastic pitch in the UK was based on an STRI testing programme. It is a decision they have not regretted, as it has proven player and groundstaff friendly
NEWCASTLE United has eight groundstaff. The decision to add undersoil heating on the new training pitch was brought about because of the extremely bad weather experienced between November 2010 and the end of January 2011. Andy Tulley is responsible for the pitch at St James’ Park and Mick Curran is responsible for the training pitches and Academy. Mick comments, “In 25 years I have never known the snow and cold to be so bad and so persistent. At one stage we had nearly 12 foot of snow cleared at the side of the training pitches.” Newcastle United were the first football
club to install a fibrelastic pitch in the UK, closely followed by Bristol City. The decision was made following a review of data derived from a thorough product testing programme carried out by the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) at Bingley, West Yorkshire. Newcastle’s primary concern has always been the wellbeing of its players, of which the playing surface has arguably the biggest impact. Fibrelastic was developed to offer a softer playing surface for players along with all other characteristics of reinforced sand dominant rootzone pitches. As well as being popular with players, Fibrelastic is also groundsman friendly. It has the drainage characteristics of a sand dominant pitch, with the ‘give’ of a soil
pitch, yet the fibres provide an intricate mesh in which to support the grass roots. It is also easy to repair post match. Newcastle use a team of seven men, following a block pattern putting back any scars or divot which may have occurred after a match. On most occasions the team will also use two rotary mowers to clear any remaining debris. After this, the pitch will be watered and the SGL lighting rigs will be brought in. On most days stadium grow lights will be used for 3 to 4 hours because much of the pitch does not get much natural light. The maintenance regime prior to a match involves a cut on the day of the game during the growing season. During the optimal growing season, between April and June, the team will cut three times per week. The optimal height for the grass is 25mm. For the match finish, two 26” Matador cylinder mowers are used. With regards to irrigation, not much is usually required in winter; however Fibrelastic, along with other sand dominant rootzone pitches, does play better when the surface is wet. That is why, on match days, the pitch is always irrigated heavily. The pitch is aerated with a Toro Pro Core pedestrian solid tine aerator roughly once a month, fixtures permitting, fitted with 8mm tines at 100mm depth. The maintenance regime at the training
pitches is slightly different because they are used six or seven days a week from July to the end of the season, for roughly three hours a day. The current fibrelastic pitches are reserved for the first team. The reserves play on the soil pitches. The pitches are verti-drained once a month with half inch tines at three inch centres. The training pitches are cut with a rotary
mower after the Monday and Tuesday sessions, followed by an additional cut with a 36 inch cylinder mower once a week in season. In early and late season, Mick uses a five unit Jacobson LF 3800 cylinder mower.
The addition of a third Fibrelastic pitch will mean that Mick can adopt a two year plan with regard to renovation - every other year a pitch will be fraise mown. In the year that a pitch is not being fraise mown, a full re-cultivation takes place. At the end of the season the pitch is stripped with the Imants Field Topmaker and re- cultivated with a Kuhn power harrow. An amount of fibrelastic rootzone will then be added over the 17,500m2
. It is
ameliorated using the power harrow and then consolidated by ‘wheeling in’ before it is levelled with a BLEC rotary rake prior to overseeding using 45 bags of R14 ESP - a disease resistant rye cultivar. The area is fertilised with a 10:15:10 fertiliser mix to help generate ideal soil conditions for
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