//IOG Kubota/Redexim Charterhouse Best Maintained Artificial Pitch of the Year

St. George’s Park, England’s National Football Centre, was victorious at the recent Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Awards, winning The IOG Kubota/Redexim Charterhouse Best Maintained Artificial Pitch of the Year for its indoor 3G pitch.

The pitch, named after former England manager Sir Alf Ramsey, is one of four artificial surfaces at St. George’s Park, and is accredited to FIFA 2* standards for play and performance. As well as providing a top-level playing surface (with at least 30 hours of usage each week), the indoor pitch plays host to a variety of events showcasing the best of St. George’s Park. It is therefore essential that the playing surface not only looks good, but its playing qualities are also preserved.

Head Groundsman Alan Ferguson and his grounds team implement a thorough maintenance programme to ensure a continued level of pitch performance. To achieve this, they work closely alongside pitch maintenance experts Technical Surfaces to deliver the correct maintenance required for the indoor pitch. By analysing the amount and type of use the indoor pitch receives, Alan and his team can focus their maintenance practices accordingly.

Alan has also been instrumental in the ongoing research into the effects and benefits of maintenance on artificial turf, a combined study between Technical Surfaces and Loughborough University. To date, the findings of this research has enabled Alan and his team to identify further changes to their in-house maintenance routine, by concentrating on maintaining the ‘high use’ areas, whilst encouraging players and coaches to rotate use of the pitch whenever possible, to allow a more even wear rate across the surface. He has also utilised the data collected to adapt his grounds team’s approach to regular brushing techniques on the pitch.

We are extremely honoured to have been awarded Best Maintained Artificial Pitch of the Year for our indoor 3G surface. It is a real endorsement of our team’s hard work and dedication during the past 12 months in successfully maintaining the pitch to FIFA 2 Star standards. The indoor 3G is an important element of the business at St. George’s Park, and it is essential that the maintenance we carry out reflects this. We are also grateful in part to Technical Surfaces for their assistance in helping us not only to retain our FIFA accreditation, but also in providing support, advice and recommendations, as well as specialist maintenance. Their expertise has helped us to achieve this fantastic honour from the grounds industry.

Alan Ferguson, Head Groundsman

The IOG Industry Awards recognises the achievements of grounds maintenance on natural and artificial surfaces, with categories including Grass Roots Sports Ground of the Year, Professional Sports Ground Team of the Year and Groundsman of the Year.