Maintaining a football pitch is top-class sport

Information as an essential raw material for a tight terrain

After the winter season, football pitches are not looking their best. Logical: it is cold, it is wet and footballers - young and old - have given it their best shot. In spring, every club gets the chance to get its pitch ready to play again, so that players enjoy coming to play. In practice, that often means sodding, pricking and overseeding, but is that always the smartest choice? Lawn expert and football enthusiast Erik Truyers throws some balls about pitch maintenance.

A well-maintained pitch is every team's calling card. That maintenance requires time and resources, and every club can only spend its money once. The advice from Erik Truyers, sales manager of Lawn Seeds and Field Flowers at Advanta and retired referee? Think before you start. 

“Every club used to have a few pensioners who came to maintain the square with pleasure. Those people and their knowledge are increasingly falling away, so you have to look at other solutions and they cost money. Every cent put into a football ground has to pay off. Unfortunately, not every club has the expertise to make the right choices. Climate change, changes in legislation and new techniques: things have not got any easier either. Taking advice before you get started will get your pitch in good condition and save you money in the long run.”

Every field is different

So the key to a field in top shape is information. With knowledge of the pitch and its capabilities, you can target your budget to ensure a pitch in top condition. “After the winter, the pitch has to be regenerated so that it is playable again as soon as possible,” Erik explains. “To do this, clubs look at each other: ‘That other club is sanding, pricking and overseeding, so we'll do the same’. But not every field needs the same. Therefore, some clubs incur unnecessary costs and their pitch even gets into a worse condition. By taking soil samples, we gain insight into the granulometry of your pitch and know whether sanding or pricking is necessary or not. Then we can apply targeted fertiliser. With knowledge of your field, you can make a targeted price request as a plough and avoid unnecessary costs.” 

The grass is greener in the long run

As a retired referee, the world of football is close to Erik's heart. “Every footballer deserves a decent pitch under his feet. A good plan may cost a bit more the first few years, but after five or 10 years you will have spent less and have much better results, and that can be done at any level,” Erik stresses. “For example, there are new grass seed mixes like our Tetrasport that give up to 50 per cent better results by continuing to grow even at low temperatures and recover faster. These are slightly more expensive to buy than the cheap mixtures, but you might have to sow two or three times of the latter for the desired results. New machinery and techniques keep your field playable for two or three months longer for a modest sum. That all adds up, but of course you have to know.” Because not every groundsman has that knowledge, Advanta assists about a hundred football clubs a year with advice on maintaining their grounds, from the national and even international level to that of your local youth team.

Early start

January and February are the perfect time to prepare the regeneration of your field. If you want to overseed from March, you should take soil samples at the start of the year and make your price request. With an expert along the field, you are guaranteed to score a site that will only get better with age.