On the eve of the much anticipated south Wales derby, Swansea City football club has announced that they are once again going to be replacing the Swansea dot com stadium playing surface.
Fans will no doubt remember that the last pitch replacement took place in December 2020, with the tractors moving in within minutes of the Swans 2-0 victory over Barnsley, at the then Liberty Stadium.
The latest pitch replacement however, is all the more ground breaking, as it will feature the latest 6g pitch technology, which uses synthetic grass without the need for the black rubber crumbs, as found in its more common 3g predecessors.
The move comes as the EFL are set to allow the introduction of artificial playing surfaces, with current EFL Chairman Trevor Birch, thought to have planted the seed for the idea with the Club’s American owners during his tenure as Swansea City Chairman.
Setting the Standard for Football Pitches
The Liberty Stadium set the standard for pitch quality when it first opened its doors in 2005, with millions of synthetic fibres stitched into the pitch and mixed with standard grass seed, making the plush carpet like surface, something players could only previously have dreamt playing on.
The surface, thanks to the original £1million investment, became the blueprint for other new stadiums to follow and was no mean feat considering that both the Swans and Ospreys shared the playing surface on a regular basis.
Fans witnessed the birth of the ‘Swansea Way’ on the green green grass of home in SA1 and unsurprisingly, numerous accolades followed.
Australian groundsman Dan Duffy was named Championship Groundsman of the Year 2008/09, Professional Groundsman of the Year 2008/09, before being awarded the prestigious Barclays Premier League Groundsman of the Year in May 2013.
However, as the stadium has aged, so has the playing surface, with this new replacement being the third in as many years.
Cost Cutting Exercise
Aside from the benefits of having a playing surface that will clearly suit Russell Martin’s style of football, the Ospreys will also welcome the news, having already sampled the delights of such a surface at Cardiff Arms Park this season.
The club’s American owners, who must clearly have relatives in Cardiganshire given their financial prudence and reluctance to part with any cash, were extremely keen on the idea of the replacement pitch, due to the financial benefits it will mean to the Club’s coffers.
Not only will it see a reduction in the annual cost of pitch maintenance, currently estimated to be in the region of £30k per season, it will provide the club with the ability to host more on-field and in-stadium events, all without having a negative impact on the playing surface.
To date the club haven’t announced the cost of the new playing surface, but one would imagine it would be a significant investment, especially when you consider the last replacement cost in the region of £550,000.
The community benefits of such a surface could also be significant, with the possible return of local League Cup Finals to the Swansea dot com stadium, just as they once did at the Vetch Field.
Perhaps even the Swansea City Ladies team could play their games at the stadium, instead of the Llandarcy Academy of Sport.
Green Green Grass of Home
Work on the replacement playing surface at the Swansea dot com stadium is expected to commence at the end of June, just days after Elton John will have graced the hallowed turf on his farewell ‘Yellow Brick Road’ tour.
Kurt Degrass, from Shropshire based artificial pitch specialists No Mow Worries, said:
“We are really looking forward to working with Swansea City Football Club and delivering a state-of-the-art 6g hybrid pitch, which will feature over 21 million fibres and some of the best Jamaican grass money can buy”.
Due to a five week pause in November and December for the World Cup in Qatar, the EFL has announced that the 2022-23 Championship season will start on the weekend of 30 July 2022, meaning Degrass and his team are going to have their work cut out to meet ensure the new pitch is ready.
Hopefully, when the work is complete, the Swansea dot com stadium will once again boast a pitch that will make other clubs green with envy.