What a fantastic World Cup Tournament we have witnessed. Russia 2018 has gripped the nation especially with the performance of England progressing to the semi-finals for the first time since 1990 - and of course all credit to France for winning their second title.
I personally have enjoyed this World Cup for many reasons, not just the fact that England have done so well, but the rest of the world’s elite footballing nations have played their part in some magnificent matches. Along with Russia entering into the spirit of the World Cup by allowing the travelling fans and supporters the chance to experience the delights of this year’s competition.
However, for me I would like to commend all the people and companies who had an involvement in constructing, preparing and maintaining the playing surfaces at this exceptional tournament. Each and every stadium pitch along with the all the training venues have stood up to the rigours and expectations of the world's best footballing teams.
These stadium pitches do not appear overnight. Along with the training grounds, they have taken between two and three years to develop, with a lot of sportsturf companies and individuals working tirelessly together to deliver on time, these exceptional stadium and training pitches.
Our sportsturf industry in the last fifteen years has gone from strength to strength with many of our leading sports venues reaping the benefits of the dedication and skills of both our grounds professionals and innovative companies who have strived to provide the machinery, resources and products to produce some of the best playing surfaces in the world.
Many of our top UK sporting stadiums are revered all around the world, Wimbledon, Wembley Lord's, Twickenham and most of our Premiership clubs are leading the way in how we manage and maintain natural turf pitches.
Therefore it is not surprising that a number of UK sports turf companies and individuals had a part to play in this year’s World Cup. I can only mention the ones I personally know, who have had some involvement in one way or another, beginning with the architect, consultants and planners. I am aware that the STRI, Richard Hayden (Hayden Turfcare), Richard Campey (Campey Turf Care), Alan Ferguson and George Mullen (SIS Pitches) where involved with the construction and maintenance of a numbers of pitches used in Russia.
SIS Pitches netted a contract to install six of the twelve pitches for the World Cup including the pitch at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, which hosted the opening ceremony, the opening game, the semi-final and the World Cup final itself.
George Mullan, chief executive of SIS Pitches, said it was "an honour" to put its reinforced natural turf system, SISGrass, on six of the World Cup venues. "SISGrass was only launched in 2015 and already it has been installed at a number of world-class stadiums and now the 2018 World Cup Final has been played on it," he said.
As for seed suppliers, DLF were one company asked to supply a range of seed varieties approved for use in Russia with eight of the twelve stadiums choosing to use DLF Grass seed. "It’s fantastic to be a part of the World Cup for the third time in a row, and to have such a strong position in turf grass for this top event," says DLF's CCO, Søren Halbye. "Although the Russian stadiums are spread throughout various climate zones, we have identified grass solutions to suit the different conditions found in each and every stadium and training complex."
As for keeping the grass cut both Dennis Mowers and Allett mowers were chosen to supply the stadiums and training grounds with mowers.
Dennis G860 at the Luzhniki stadium
A delivery of eighty-eight Dennis mowers had the task of preparing stadium and training complex pitches for the duration of the tournament while some venues utilised the Dennis Premier in conjunction with the G860 for matchday preparations.
Seven of the eleven stadiums used Dennis mowers, including those hosting the quarter finals, the semi-finals and the final. Steven Rienks – managing director of Queens Grass, who are the official Dennis dealer in Russia, had orchestrated proceedings and admits it has been a proud moment for himself and his company to be involved in this marvellous tournament.
Allett Mowers also had an input supplying a range of 185 mowers that included Allett Buffalos, Regals, RM34’s and C34’s specified by the stadiums, training facilities, hotels and grounds contractors in Russia. Allett’s MD Austin Jarrett said, “This tournament has been great for Britain and British manufacturing. Both Allett and our competitors have been fighting for business and we have both done very well."
Another British company playing their part were Bernhard and Company who supplied a number of their sharpening systems via their Russian distributor, Golf Technology, into three venues. With training and support, they have helped groundsmen achieve the best turf quality throughout the tournament. Paul Wilcox, Territory Manager for Europe said: “This is an exciting time for us, as well as supporting such a major event, we are confident that our products are being used appropriately in these venues and other golf clubs in what can be very challenging conditions. We would like to thank Vladimir Potapov and everyone at Golf Technology for their hard work during the World Cup."
I apologise if I have left anybody out. All in all this year’s World Cup proved to be a great success not only for the England football team and their great hoard of supporters, but for all those sportsturf related companies who played their part in helping produce an exceptional standard of playing surfaces during this most memorable tournament.
