ARTIFICIAL TURF 51
Issue 118 • 18 April 2016 sportsmanagement.co.uk
Next generation A look at the latest artificial turf installation news from across the UK Tom Walker • managing editor • Sports Management
The grass pitch at Sixways will soon be replaced with a new artificial surface
Venue: Sixways Stadium
Venue: Colchester United community sports centre
Limonta Sport
Tiger Turf
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orcester Warriors will become the third Premiership Rugby club to lay an artificial pitch at its home ground ahead of the 2016-17 season. The new pitch will be laid at the Sixways Stadium between June and August in time for the start of the new Premiership season. Produced by Italian firm Limonta Sport, the pitch is the first in the UK to feature an organic infill rather than rubber crumb. It will sit on top of a rugbyspecific shock pad and will permit greater usage for elite squads, academy players and community rugby, as well as reducing maintenance costs. “Our stadium pitch is the single most under-utilised asset in the club, currently being used fewer than 100 hours per season,” said Worcester CEO Jim O’Toole. “This development not only allows us to play more rugby at all levels, but also allows us to establish new commercial revenue streams.”
The FIFAapproved surface will benefit more than 2,000 players
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eague One club Colchester United has installed a new community pitch at its Shrub End sports ground. Working through its Football In The Community initiative – which provides high quality sporting provision for schools and groups around the town – the club commissioned supplier McArdle Sport Tec to install a FIFA-approved Soccer Real 60 XQ surface supplied by Tiger Turf UK. The club is hoping to build on the 2,000 players who use the facility each week. As well as being used by the club’s academy, a community programme will see the pitch used for a range of wider sporting activities.
Turn over: Game changers