Tag Archive for: Pitches

Plastic Pitches Set For Twenty20

Plastic Pitches Set For Twenty20: The ECB expect plastic pitches to be used in domestic Twenty20 action this season when the heavy World Cup scheduling takes its toll on the squares of the country’s leading grounds.

Artificial surfaces are yet to be used for professional matches in the UK but the ECB’s cricket committee sanctioned reinforced grass pitches – woven with up to five per cent of a soft polyethylene yarn – for both the Royal London Cup and the Vitality Blast in 2019.

Plastic Pitches Set For Twenty20

In order to use one of the new generation pitches, a club must notify both the ECB and their opposition of an intention to do so in reasonable time. With the midpoint of the 50-over competition’s group stage being reached this Friday, it is not anticipated such a request will be forthcoming.

However, with so much cricket being played across the country this summer due to the hosting of the World Cup, that is likely to change when the T20 competition begins in the second half of July.

Ten counties have had the hybrid strips installed at their headquarters, with the Kia Oval housing as many as six on their square. Although the majority are located on the edges, and used chiefly as practice nets, several are in positions that would allow for boundaries in excess of the minimum regulation lengths.

In July, the ECB will carry out tests using Hawkeye technology to assess how such surfaces react to genuinely fast bowling and how much the ball deviates off the seam.

Reports since the ECB invested £12,000 on the first one at Loughborough three years ago suggest they provide excellent pace and carry, making them ideal for bat-dominated, limited-overs games but they have not been ticked up for first-class cricket as they do not deteriorate over time – a process that encourages different skill sets at the end of a game to the start, such as spin bowling.

It is their durability, in fact, that has made them so popular around the country – manufacturers SIS Pitches say one of their fibre-injected pitches can be used up to five times longer than a regular grass equivalent.

Their successful introduction would place less strain on a groundsman’s primary pitches, and reduce the number of used surfaces being prepared at the end of the season. It has been mooted that they could feature in the new eight-team Hundred competition from 2020.

Chris Wood, the ECB’s pitch consultant, began the process of looking for quality carpet pitches in 2013 due to concerns about ‘wear-and-tear’ caused by an increasing volume of matches. He had already rejected a couple of ‘astroturf’ prototypes when he witnessed how the goalmouths at Tottenham’s former home of White Hart Lane were repaired.

In those areas, finer fibres were injected than in the rest of the pitch, sparking a belief that a similar process could be used across 22 yards for cricket.

Leicestershire and Somerset have both explored the idea of introducing artificial outfields over recent seasons, in a bid to hire out their grounds when dormant in winter, but concerns over restricting the roll of the ball and not having a thick enough pile to the grass covering to cushion the falls of diving fielders scuppered plans.

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Parkers Pitches’ New Verti-Quake

Parkers Pitches’ New Verti-Quake: Suffolk based sports-turf contractors Parkers Pitches are now well equipped to deal with even the most heavily compacted of surfaces, thanks to the purchase of a Verti-Quake® 2516 from Charterhouse Turf Machinery. The investment made in October 2018 by owner Will Parker, compliments his existing Verti-Drain® 7316, and sees them prepared for a busy renovation season ahead.

Established by Will in 2015 and, supported by his father Tim and new team member Alfie, Parker Pitches offer a variety of maintenance services, along with consultancy and reporting to sports facilities throughout East Anglia. “By conducting Pitch Improvement Programme (PIP) site visits on behalf of Suffolk FA, I was finding that compaction was a major issue at many sites across the region” explains Will. “We can structure an effective aeration programme with our Verti-Drain®, but I decided that with an increasing number of football clubs coming to us for help, adding a linear aerator to our fleet would be a logical step.”

Parkers Pitches' New Verti-Quake

“We spoke to our local dealer, Adrian Brown at Tomlinsons, who showed us the Verti-Quake® and it was just what we needed. It’s effective when used in conjunction with the Verti-Drain®, but the wave action now gives us a different way of relieving compaction on the most heavily compacted of grounds.” For football pitches, Will now recommends 2 passes with the Verti-Drain® and 2 with the Verti-Quake® each year. However, the Verti-Quake® will also come into its own as Will approaches end of season renovations for football and rugby. “Fitting the Verti-Quake® with 20mm blades will create grooves for sand dressings, letting sand down into the soil profile while keeping drainage channels free and open.”

Final word from Will, “It’s a great machine that makes what could be a difficult job, quite a relaxing one to do. It’s well-built, quiet and easy to use – we trained Alfie on it and he was away in a matter of hours! As our workload continues to grow, it’s important we invest in kit to ensure we keep pace. With the Verti-Quake®, backed up with fantastic support from Tomlinsons, we’re doing just that.”

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Hybrid Pitches To Transform Cricket

Hybrid Pitches To Transform Cricket: SIS Pitches has installed pioneering hybrid cricket pitches at County Cricket Clubs across the United Kingdom ahead of the 2019 cricket season.

The surface installation technology has been developed exclusively by industry experts SIS Pitches and comes as new research reveals it could have significant benefits for players and clubs.

Hybrid Pitches Set To Transform Cricket

The breakthrough has been possible thanks to SISGrass Universal, a compact and 100% electric machine with patented fibre injection technology, which combines speed, mobility and laser precision to deliver high-quality hybrid turf surfaces.

SISGrass hybrid cricket pitches have been installed and trialled in practice net areas and on main ground squares at a number of County Cricket Clubs since 2017.

Together with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), SIS Pitches commissioned research by Dr Iain James, cricket pitch specialist at TGMS Ltd, on SISGrass installed pitches at the Kia Oval, home to Surrey County Cricket Club, designed to provide insight into playability, durability, maintenance and renovation of hybrid wickets.

The report found that the pitches improved surface stability, reduced wear, reduced bowler foot holes and significantly extended hours of playing time. Futher research this summer will be carried out to ascertain whether there is increased pace and carry, and more consistent bounce from hybrid pitches.

The ECB became the first to install two trial wickets using SISGrass technology at the prestigious National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough and they have now approved hybrid pitches for use in the Royal London One Day Cup, Vitality Blast and all formats of second XI cricket for the 2019 season.

The pitches combine a majority of natural turf grass with less than 5% of uniquely engineered, soft polyethylene yarn, a system which has also been used to improve the quality of golf tees, goal areas, tennis courts and pitch surrounds.

Hybrid Pitches Set To Transform Cricket

In addition, repair works after play were reduced with a faster grass recovery time, while the surface remained more than 95% natural turf, meaning it will crucially still behave like a normal wicket.

Chris Wood, ECB’s Pitches Consultant, said: “The ECB is delighted with the incredibly positive results of these stitched, reinforced hybrid pitches to date and feedback from County Clubs has been most profound and encouraging.

“SIS Pitches have demonstrated their willingness through imaginative foresight, attention to detail and technological development towards converting a notion into reality which through the ongoing research since conception.

“This product has the potential to be a real gamechanger for the future of cricket, particularly in the lucrative, limited over, whiteball form of the game through increased usage and possible freeing up of central TV pitches, most importantly, without sacrificing quality over quantity.

“I’m aware that many clubs and indeed international governing bodies are viewing the ongoing progress with increasing interest.”

Weighing less than two tons and standing at 1.20m wide and 2m in length, the SISGrass Universal machine provides quick, accurate and flexible stitching, with different depths and spacing using precise laser guidance making it a practical solution for groundskeepers who are challenged to maintain uniform grass quality in high-wear areas.

One 10ft cricket pitch strip contains approximately 190,000 individual stitches of SISGrass fibre, made up of 46kg of yarn, totalling 38km, and can be installed in just five hours using SISGrass Universal.

After installation, pitches are maintained for a minimum of eight weeks to allow the profile to settle and for all holes to close and anchor the SISGrass fibres.

Phil Blackwell, SISGrass Director in the UK, said: “Some of the world’s biggest professional rugby and football teams have already seen significant benefits from the introduction of our hybrid pitch technology, and SISGrass Universal has the potential to transform the maintenance and durability of cricket pitches.

Hybrid Pitches Set To Transform Cricket

“We’re excited to see the impact it’s already having in the UK and anticipate demand from cricket clubs around the world.

“Our research and feedback from clubs and ground staff has been extremely positive so far, and our hope is that in the future hybrid pitches can be used as an alternative option to traditional wickets for practice and short formats of the game.”

Following successful trial installations, and positive feedback from players, coaches and ground staff, the demand for hybrid cricket pitches has increased with many of the top county cricket grounds choosing to have between two and six installed.

Hybrid cricket pitches have now been installed at Surrey, Lord’s, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Glamorgan, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Durham, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and at Loughborough University.

Watch the SISGrass Universal cricket pitch installation at The Oval, Surrey County Cricket Club

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Boy Racers Churn Up Football Pitches

Boy Racers Churn Up Football Pitches: Boy racers performing ‘donuts’ have churned up a team’s football pitch in Market Harborough.

Two cars have damaged a large section of the turf at the Symington’s Recreation Ground by performing stunts and driving about at speed on Sunday night.

Boy Racers Churn Up Football Pitches

Officials at Borough Alliance Football Club, who run 17 teams for up to 400 players, officials, volunteers and parents at the site, have branded the actions as ‘mindless vandalism’.

Mick Draper, club chairman and manager of the under-10 team, said he was angry at the drivers.

He said: “These boy racers have come onto the pitch on Sunday night at about 8pm after our teams played at home.

“These idiots have spent five or 10 minutes trashing our pitches doing donuts.

“They have caused damage to three pitches.

“You can’t print what I think about these idiots. It is mindless vandalism.”

Local people have rallied round to get a group of volunteers together to work on the pitches so they are playable on at the weekend.

The club have also received support from Harborough Hire Centre and Jewsons, who are providing equipment and materials to assist them.

The affected areas will be re-seeded.

Mr Draper said: “We will get all hands on deck and sort this. There is no way we will not be ready for the games on Sunday.

“Our under-15s are going for the league, our under-11s are in a quarter-final and the under-nines are in a semi-final.

“They are all playing at home and all games will go ahead as planned. We will not let these vandals win. “

Harborough District Council have said they intend to install extra bollards to prevent vehicles being able to access the playing surfaces.

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Pitches Ruined By Tyre Damage

Pitches Ruined By Tyre Damage: A Renton football club were left devastated this weekend after Scottish Power vans ploughed through their pitches – leaving them unplayable.

A coach of Renton Craigandro FC spotted the vans from Scottish Power Energy Network on Friday as they drove through the grass at Tontine Park leaving large muddy tyre tracks behind them.

Pitches Ruined By Tyre Damage

Club coach Joe Mulvenna told the Lennox Herald: “One of our coaches was passing by and saw the Scottish Power vans on our pitch.

“They decided to traipse vans and machinery over our land without even asking us.”

The damage to the turf forced the club to relocate a weekend match, as they feared the pitch damage could lead to injured players.

Joe said: “One of the pitches could not have any spectators and we couldn’t risk the kids falling through the ditches and breaking an ankle.

“Scottish Power have a pylon at the top and they have authority to access it. Their only way of getting at the work area is through our land.

“Obviously we have no problem with them going in – if there is a problem or there is a power cut in the Vale then they have to fix it.

“We are just asking for them to be a bit more considerate.”

Scottish Power left a digger machine on the land which the club had said they would hold until remedial work to repair the turf is carried out.

Joe said: “I have since met with their regional manager and they have given their word that they will make it right again.

“It was positive. We shook hands and he promised to get the pitch fixed.

“They left a machine on our land and until we got agreement that they would come to do remedial work, we would not be giving their digger back – it was a bit of a Mexican stand-off.”

Scottish Power, have now been in touch with the club and offered to mend the grass while also making a donation to the club.

Joe said: “Scottish Power have confirmed they accept responsibility for damages to grounds.

“They have agreed to make good any damage at their own cost and make a donation to club for inconvenience caused.”

The firm, who run a pylon from the site, have gained access via the pitches in the past.

However, Joe said previous vans have always put down matting to ensure the grass is preserved.

This is not the first time the club, which has almost 300 young players, have had their pitch damaged.

We previously reported how Renton Craigandro was targeted by vandals who set fire to their pitches. The club were forced to foot the bill and fix the damage themselves as well as relocate their matches.

Joe said: “We have had a history of vandalism on the pitch and, if we had not seen the Scottish Power vans, I would have thought it had been joy riders ruining the pitch.”

A Scottish Power spokewoman said: “We apologise for the damage caused to the playing field, which was unfortunately exacerbated by the recent spell of bad weather. Work still needs to be carried out to an underground cable on this site which is critical to the overall reliability of the network in this area.

“We have assured Mr Mulvenna that we will reinstatement the playing field to the original condition and will meet with him shortly to discuss the works going forward.”

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New Terra Spike For Premier Pitches

New Terra Spike For Premier Pitches: Specialist sports turf contractor, Premier Pitches, has added a Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8 HD to its list of machinery, specifically for work at renovation time.

Director, Jonathan Woolfall, of the Sheffield firm which won The IOG Contractor of the Year in both 2016 & 2017, said:

New Terra Spike For Premier Pitches

“A lot of clubs want deep aeration built into end-of-season packages.

“We bought this machine principally to use during the renovation period, so mainly April, May and June. When you do renovations there can be many tractor and trailer movements across a pitch which inevitably lead to compaction.  After we’ve put the sand and seeds in the ground, an efficient deep tine with the GXi8 helps air circulate below the surface, then, we just leave it alone…it’s a good way to conclude such works.

“We needed to replace a machine so with dealer, Balmers GM, we looked about to see what was available. The precision and build quality of the GXi8 were second to none. It’s light, fast and easy to transport around the country on a small truck.  We bought it with the knowledge that it will be with us for a very long time.”

Easy tool-free adjustments mean that heave and depth settings can be finely tuned to suit conditions.  Importantly, the GXi8 HD offers Advance Tine Control a uniquely patented feature which makes sure the tines’ incision into the ground is always precise leaving a neat finish. It has a working depth of up to 250 mm and covers a whole pitch in less than three hours.

For more information, visit: www.wiedenmann.com

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Ex-Cricketer Criticises County Pitches

Ex-Cricketer Criticises County Pitches: England batting coach Mark Ramprakash believes county pitches are not helping create top-order batsmen for Test cricket, labeling them ‘inexplicable’.

England have been bowled out for 77, 246, 187 and 132 in the first two Tests against Windies to slip to a series defeat and will now try to avoid a whitewash in St Lucia from Saturday.

Ex-Cricketer Criticises County Pitches

Asked by Sky Sports‘ Ian Ward whether domestic surfaces were allowing top-order players to hone their craft, Ramprakash said: “In a word, no.
“I’m trying to be diplomatic here but the stats would say fewer batsmen are getting 1,000 runs, let alone 1,500, in county cricket.

“Is that a lack of skill? Maybe – but I’d suggest it is more to do with ‘a quick game’s a good game’. We are playing four-day games in April when conditions are tough, pitches have a lot of grass on them.

“I went to Lord’s last year on July 25 for Middlesex versus Warwickshire and the pitch was indistinguishable from the outfield and Middlesex were 70-7 at lunch. That was after five weeks of 30-degree heat.

“It’s just inexplicable – I don’t know how groundsmen can possibly justify the pitches we are playing on at the moment.

“We are looking for batsmen with good technique and concentration to bat time – to get through the new ball and build an innings.

“Are we creating the right conditions for that, with four four-day games in April, four in September and not much in between?

“There is a huge emphasis on white-ball cricket, the excitement, smacking it into the stands. It’s great to watch but is it to the detriment of the art of batting? I would suggest yes.”

Ramprakash also cited tour preparation as a reason for England’s batting woes in Barbados and Antigua as they slumped to 381-run and 10-wicket defeats respectively to relinquish the Wisden Trophy.

Joe Root’s side played just a pair of two-day warm-up games against a Cricket West Indies President’s XI before they faced Jason Holder’s men at Kensington Oval.

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More Injuries On 4G Pitches?

More Injuries On 4G Pitches?: A recent study undertaken by the Irish Premiership bears out the belief that plastic pitches are more dangerous than natural surfaces.

In August, Munster’s new 4G pitch surface at Musgrave Park was laid, the conversion from natural grass to plastic complete and ready for the visits of London Irish and Exeter Chiefs for two pre-season friendly matches.

More Injuries On 4G Pitches?

Munster followed trends at Glasgow Warriors and Cardiff Blues, who both play home games on the synthetic surface, while Leinster have played competitively on their plastic in Donnybrook.

Munster’s first match on the surface arrived two months after Scarlets backrow John Barclay ruptured an Achilles’ tendon at Scotstoun, and fullback Johnny McNicholl called for artificial pitches to be outlawed. The following day Wasps flanker Jack Willis, who had just been called into the England squad, ruptured ligaments in his right knee on Saracens’ artificial pitch.

The Premiership now has three clubs who use the artificial surface, Saracens, Newcastle and Worcester. Gloucester intended joining them this season, but after taking advice from their players, the club is spending on a surface that will be a hybrid of grass and artificial grass fibres.

Under-20 Six Nations matches and women’s Six Nations matches are also played in Donnybrook. Leinster played against Newcastle on the surface prior to travelling to Cardiff Blues for their first Pro14 match of this season.

Joe Tomane, Ciaran Frawley and Will Connors all picked up injuries, Connors supporting the recently published Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance Report into amateur rugby that openside flankers represent, at 11 per cent, the most injured players of any position. Dan Leavy, Josh van der Flier and Sean O’Brien can testify to that without a study.

The injuries may be perceived to be part of the game of rugby, tough luck and coincidental. But the most recent Premiership study bears out the belief that plastic pitches are more dangerous and cause more injuries than grass. It also begs the question why, from a player-welfare perspective, are they becoming more rather than less common.

Synthetic pitches

The RFU crunched the numbers on grass and synthetic pitches in Premiership rugby, and came up with a report after the 2016-17 season.

It said that for that season 608 injuries were recorded on grass, 170 on artificial surfaces. With just three pitches the exposure to plastic was less, but returned injury rates of 129.1 per 1,000 hours compared to the grass rate of 89.6 per 1,000 hours, the total hours representing 25 matches. The average severity for match injuries on grass was 32 days, compared with 37 days for artificial turf.

As stated in the official report: “The overall burden of injuries on natural grass was 2,481 per 1,000 days compared with 4,740 per 1,000 days on artificial turf, a staggering difference.”

It was stipulated that 2016-17 was the first season where the incidence and burden of injury on artificial turf was higher than on natural grass. Enough, though, to take a pause on what direction player welfare is actually moving.

At a briefing this week in Aviva Stadium, the IRFU strength and conditioning coach Jason Cowman outlined the burdens on international players and the incredible toll matches take.

Of the 160 players eligible to play for Ireland, 20 per cent are injured at any one time in a game that Cowman says has changed dramatically over the last five years.

“It is not hamstring injuries where you are talking weeks, it is the hamstring off the bone,” said Cowman, by way of explaining how injuries are changing and evolving.

Some of those players are professionally contracted and competing in the All-Ireland League, which triggers another aspect of the welfare debate.

According to the Munster website, the Greencore Munster Rugby Academy was formed in 2004 “to prepare young players for life in and beyond professional rugby”.

The difference between amateur and professional?

“Two very different games,” said Mairead Liston, medical department co-ordinator, IRFU, who gave the excellent briefing with Cowman.

Concussion rates

The report into club rugby in Ireland set concussion rates at 6 per 1,000 hours. In the professional game as measured by the numbers coming from Premiership Rugby, a similar pool to Pro14, concussion rates run at 21 per 1,000 hours, or 3.5 times more than in Irish club competition.

Yet increasingly more professionally-contracted players are being pushed into a competition populated by non-professional athletes.

In that one concussion metric how will those numbers move when more professional players compete against amateurs on a weekly basis? It’s reasonable to assume the rate of 6 per 1,000 hours will not decrease as a result.

Player welfare is a never-ending juggling act, said Cowman. It takes in a player’s history of games, medical past, athletic profile, position and age. For that reason one of the current bugbears with the IRFU is World Rugby’s insistence that World Cup squads should be no more than 31 players.

At the last World Cup non-playing Irish staff were pressed into taking part in team-training sessions because there were not enough fit bodies available to provide two teams of 15 players to run through drills. Mismatch alert.

Player welfare is every surface played, every policy agreed and every law made, not simply the number of games the Young Munster tighthead or Johnny Sexton play each season.

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1 In 3 Grassroots Pitches Adequate

1 In 3 Grassroots Pitches Adequate: Only one in three pitches at grassroots level is of adequate quality, says the Football Association.

The figure is part of the FA’s written evidence for a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) parliamentary hearing on Wednesday about the possible sale of Wembley Stadium.

1 In 3 Grassroots Pitches Adequate

The FA says it is “considering a sale because it represents a transformative opportunity” to change “the poor state of community football facilities”.

The DCMS hearing starts at 14:00 BST.

The FA has received an offer of £600m for the national stadium from Fulham owner Shahid Khan – the governing body would retain Club Wembley rights which it values at £250m-£300m.

Among those taking part in the DCMS hearing are Sports Minister Tracey Crouch and FA chief executive Martin Glenn.

Sport England chair Nick Bitel, former England and Manchester United defender Gary Neville and Katrina Law, co-chair of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, will also answer questions.

The problems with grassroots football?

There are 21,000 grassroots clubs, 50 county FAs, 25,000 schools and 330 local authorities which are catered for by the FA and, along with the finding that only one in three grassroots pitches are of adequate quality, the FA’s written evidence also highlights:

  • 150,000 matches were called off last season due to poor facilities
  • One in six matches are called off due to poor pitch quality
  • 33 of 50 county FAs are without their own 3G pitch
  • Cancelled matches account for the equivalent of 5,000,000 playing opportunities lost this year because of poor facilities
  • There are half the number of 3G pitches in England than there are in Germany

“The word for grassroots football is ‘crisis,'” said Kenny Saunders, who runs pressure group Save Grassroots Football. “Government cuts to local councils are having a massive impact.

“Councils can’t maintain pitches and more of them are selling them off.

“I would welcome the sale of Wembley if the money is ring-fenced for grassroots football and used wisely. We need to build from the bottom.”

How much does the FA currently spend on grassroots football?

Since 2000, the FA says it has invested around £615m in grassroots football along with the Premier League, Sport England and the DCMS.

The FA has put £127m back into every level of football during the 2017-18 season and this will rise to £180m from the 2018-19 campaign onwards.

“In 2017, investments included £13m in coaching and participation; £17m to the county FAs for the delivery of community football; £4m in disability, equality and child protection; £20m investment in community football facilities; £5m for women’s football development (taking our total spend in women’s football to £13m); £36m in FA competition prize funds; £18m of investments in other football organisations and £14m of various other investments,” said the FA.

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Football’s “Made in England” Pitches

Football’s “Made in England” Pitches: Sunday’s World Football Cup Final, the first-ever to be staged on a revolutionary hi-tech playing surface, is set to deliver a multi-million pound boost to SIS Pitches, the English firm behind the groundbreaking technology.

Cumbria-based SIS Pitches installed its hybrid surfaces using patented fibre injection technology with undersoil aeration system in six of the 12 tournament venues, including Moscow’s 81,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium, which will host Sunday’s decider between France and Croatia.

Football’s “Made in England” Pitches

Luzhniki’s pitch uses SISGrass, – 95% natural grass reinforced with 5% synthetic fibres – and SISAir, a unique aeration system capable of removing a deluge of rain from the surface in just five seconds, whilst optimising root moisture via a network of undersoil pipes.

George Mullan, CEO of SIS Pitches, said: “With around one billion people expected to watch the final, there’s clearly pressure to get the pitch in top condition, despite it being used for over 60 hours – the equivalent of a full Premier League season – in the past five weeks. That would have been impossible on a traditional all-grass pitch.

“Everyone has been raving about the quality of football at this tournament and our pitches have certainly given Modric, Lukaku, Mbappe and Kane a brilliant platform to perform on. The feedback we’ve had from everyone involved has been hugely positive. It’s the first worldwide showcase for these technologies to be combined at a World Football Cup final and it’s performed perfectly.”

The six World Football Cup stadia using SISGrass are Luzhniki, Spartak, Samara, Kaliningrad, Saransk and Rostov.

Football’s “Made in England” Pitches

Having installed over 80 hybrid surfaces worldwide, including English Premier League sides Chelsea, Newcastle United, Fulham and Bournemouth, as well as Scottish champions Celtic and the English FA’s St George’s Park complex, with Barcelona to follow, SIS Pitches predicts annual revenues will grow from £55m to £65m in 2019.

Mullan said: “We’re seeing huge interest from professional sports teams in the US and Japan, as well as the enormous American university sector and we’re installing eight SISGrass pitches in France this summer alone.”

Founded in 2001, SIS Pitches employs over 340 staff worldwide, with manufacturing headquarters in Maryport, Cumbria.

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