St George’s Park SIS Grass Hybrid Pitch Renovation

Hybrid grass renovation at St George’s park

St George’s Park is the English Football Association’s national football centre in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire. The £105m facility serves as the training ground for England’s 24 national teams and features 13 outdoor pitches, including a replica of the Wembley surface and a full-size indoor 3G pitch.

The Background

As the official pitch suppliers for St George’s Park, SIS Pitches installed SIS Grass Hybrid pitches in 2015 and 2016. These hybrid grass surfaces are needed to meet the demands of elite-level training for both football and rugby teams.

The Brief

The FA required durable, high-performance pitches that offered exceptional playability and could endure rigorous use without compromising surface quality. The pitches also needed to facilitate efficient renovation and maintenance. With this in mind, hybrid grass pitches were the perfect surface solution.

What We Did

SIS Pitches installed SIS Grass hybrid pitches at St George’s Park. Key actions included:

• Installation of SIS Grass hybrid systems, combining natural grass with stitched synthetic fibres for enhanced durability.
• Implementation of the SIS HydroBox pop-up irrigation system to ensure optimal pitch conditions.

Comprehensive renovation of the first pitch after a year, which involved:

• Removing the grass layer with a Koro machine, leaving the SIS Grass fibres intact.
  40 tonnes of sand were applied as a top dressing.
• Aerate the surface with a Verti-Drain and overseeding to restore the playing surface.

The Outcome

The SIS Grass hybrid pitches at St George’s Park have exceeded expectations, demonstrating exceptional durability and maintaining playability after rigorous use. Following the first pitch’s annual renovation, the SIS Grass hybrid fibres showed no damage or displacement, reflecting the system’s robustness.St George’s Park’s SIS Grass Hybrid pitch has hosted numerous teams, including England’s national football teams, Ireland and Argentina during the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and the Australian Rugby League team in 2016.

Alan Ferguson, Head Groundsman at St George’s Park, praised the solution: