IOG BEST PRACTICE
The team makes sure everything is perfect
JUST CHAMPION FOR LEE
A By Colin Hoskins Features editor
fter having hosted FA Cup finals, Heineken Cup rugby union finals, and Rugby Union and Rugby League World Cup games, as well as Olympic football, you’d think Lee Evans would have seen and heard it all in his 13 years at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. But, he says, the staging of last month’s Champions League (CL) final was “an unbelievable event and one that will always stand out in my career”. He says: “The stadium was full with 66,000 spectators (reduced from the usual 74,000 to accommodate the expanded TV studio, for example) and from at least 80 minutes before kick-off their noise was deafening. And they didn’t stop until after the final whistle. With the roof closed (for security reasons), it was the first time I’d experienced such a glorious occasion.”
IDEAL PREPARATION
With past experience of those top games (few will be able to match his record at the stadium, which he joined in April 2004 after periods at Aston Villa and Fulham), Lee says that he knew what to expect when UEFA came to town after having travelled to the San Siro Stadium in Italy to witness events at last year’s CL final. Indeed, the groundsman from Ukraine, where next year’s final will be held, spent time with Lee at this year’s event. In preparation for the Juventus vs Real Madrid clash, Lee was fortunate in that he had a six-week window between the last event (a rugby game) and the CL final. “We had a busy start to the year, which included the Six Nations rugby and a series of eight rugby union games in just two weeks, after we ‘condensed’ the playing schedule. The rugby union games would normally extend into the second week of May. 26 THE GROUNDSMAN July 2017
Photo: Pan Publicity
The Principality Stadium’s head groundsman Lee Evans says hosting the UEFA Champions League final was an unbelievable experience
“We took advantage of that time by implementing a mini renovation involving vertidraining, overseeding and applying a light (12 tonnes) sand dressing with walking spreaders. Then it was a case of implementing my usual ICL fertiliser and Primo Maxx treatment programme. “For six months prior to the CL Final, UEFA had the pitch regularly tested, and had laid down specifications regarding hardness levels, sward height (we took it down to 20mm) and the mowed pitch pattern for the final. The UEFA officials arrived on the Sunday before the game. “The pitch was really at its best on the Tuesday before the game, then followed a few days of opening ceremony rehearsals (four hours on three nights) which included a team of 120 people pulling over the UEFA logo pitch cover, as well as the erection of the stage unit (12 half-tonne stage sections pushed onto the centre of the pitch from one corner). Then there were TV camera crews and mobile TV units pitch-side to accommodate, which made it very difficult to turn the mowers. Plus, of course, we had the teams’ training sessions, too. “We have only one access point onto the pitch, from a corner, so everything went in and out from there, which wasn’t ideal. But the show must go on!” That said, Lee is adamant that the CL final was an event to behold – though at the same time he was busy moving home. “The house move was undertaken at very short notice and around the CL final. But all things considered, I reckon that was more stressful than when UEFA came to town!”
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