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No New Pitch For Anfield This Summer

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Frogfish

Frogfish

Gone to Redcafe
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I can only echo The Echo's stance - it's a fucking disgrace and impacts our football !!
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Liverpool FC's hopes of relaying the Anfield pitch this summer look set to be dashed due to building work on the redevelopment of the Main Stand.

Manager Brendan Rodgers has frequently bemoaned the state of the playing surface which has deteriorated badly over the course of the season. The Reds’ hierarchy acknowledge the problem which hampers and slows down Liverpool’s passing game but plans to address the issue during the off-season are now in serious jeopardy.

Cranes are scheduled to be on the pitch during June as contractors Carillion step up work on the £100million Main Stand project to add 8,500 extra seats to Anfield’s capacity. Even if Liverpool were able to put in new drainage prior to the cranes moving in there are fears the weight of the machinery would burst the piping. As a result the Reds may have to continue playing on the same surface in 2015/16 before it can be ripped up and replaced when the stand is completed in the summer of 2016.

Previously, Anfield was renowned as one of the best pitches in the Premier League but opposition players and managers have regularly commented on its shabbiness this term. There are numerous bare patches and the ball bobbles across it.

The ECHO understands there is no blame attached to the club’s ground staff who work tirelessly to ensure it’s in the best possible condition. It’s simply a case of Liverpool having failed to sufficiently invest in the infrastructure. Industry experts says a pitch which was given a 10-year life span is now 14-years-old.

The current pitch is a ‘Desso GrassMaster’ – a combination of natural grass and artificial fibres. Some 20 million artificial grass fibres are injected 20cm deep and cover about 3% of the surface. The natural grass roots intertwine with the artificial turf fibres and the result is a pitch that can take three times as much football as a normal, natural grass pitch. You don’t get clumps of turf being dislodged.

The company’s list of clients also includes Wembley, Manchester City and Arsenal. Liverpool are getting two new ‘Desso’ pitches installed at their Melwood training ground this summer but sorting out Anfield is proving more problematic.

The current drainage and irrigation system dates back to 1998. There is no state of the art sprinkler system with a hose currently used to water the pitch before matches. There is also a shortage of grow lights which are used to warm the surface and artificially grow the grass.

Issues with Anfield’s previous natural grass pitch during Gerard Houllier’s reign back in the 1999/2000 season led to the club teaming up with ‘Desso’ in 2001. Each summer since then extensive work has been carried out, with the natural grass removed and the surface re-seeded, but window dressing is no longer sufficient.

For such an iconic stadium, the current state of the pitch is a disgrace. It’s to the current crop’s immense credit that they haven’t allowed that historical neglect to hamper the Reds’ revival.
 
Presumably there'll be no home pre-season friendlies...which also explains the timing of Gerrard's match. Or have I missed something?
 
Yeah, its awful. These last few games the pitch has looked shocking.
10 year lifespan in to its 14 year. What did we expect?!

Need to sort it out quickly.
 
That 3% artifical is a clever worded mistruth btw. The actual artifical content is a helluva lot higher, hence why it's branded, the brand is used because they own the genetically altered grass rights & the soil/fibre matt patent that allows artifical fibres to be mixed in.

Incidentally Everton pay more than most clubs for their pitch, simply because they insisted on using a grass with 'blue' in the name which cost more.
 
Surely it cant take that long to lay a new pitch and let it grow, they must be able to fit it in at the end, at the cost of a friendly or two.
 
FoxForceFive said:
That 3% artifical is a clever worded mistruth btw. The actual artifical content is a helluva lot higher, hence why it's branded, the brand is used because they own the genetically altered grass rights & the soil/fibre matt patent that allows artifical fibres to be mixed in.

Incidentally Everton pay more than most clubs for their pitch, simply because they insisted on using a grass with 'blue' in the name which cost more.
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I'd have thought Everton grass is grown. Not manufactured.
 
Mystic said:
Surely it cant take that long to lay a new pitch and let it grow, they must be able to fit it in at the end, at the cost of a friendly or two.
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Heh. It's not really just grass though.

It's a huge & quite complicated drainage & heating system, with a few substrates on top of it to aid drainage & just enough soil to provide a base for the grass to grow, with a plastic fabric mesh with artificial grass tied in on top.
 
I think disgrace is a bit over the top.

The focus has been and needs to be expansion of the stadium and that has been the case over the several years. It would not make sense to make a big investment on the pitch (and all the infrastructure) that runs under it until the decision was made to stay at Anfield. Then you would not want to risk the investment during the building process.

Then we would say the waste of money is a disgrace.

Just need to try to make the best of an imperfect situation.
 
Frogfish said:
You are missing the point @FreshRed ...... it should have been changed 4 years ago at the latest !
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To be fair though, the stodgy football we were playing from the start of 2009/10 to the end of 2011/12 - bar Kenny's caretaker period when we actually reverted to pass and move (only to regress the following season, unfortunately) - didn't usually require / warrant having that pitch replaced. 😉
 
Them carillion dudes are bastards, paying the subcontractors on 120 days or 90 if you reduce the fee by 10%. #lizards.
 
Surely it is possible to spread the load of the cranes so they don't burst the new piping? Uh? We sent men to the moon in the sixties FFS! Probably.
 
doctor_mac said:
Surely it is possible to spread the load of the cranes so they don't burst the new piping? Uh? We sent men to the moon in the sixties FFS! Probably.
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Not much chance of that.

Those mobile cranes bases intentionally weigh a shitload, to help counter balance the weight.
 
Rodgers was also once again critical of the state of the Anfield pitch which he says hinders the way his side plays.

“I’ll say it again the pitch makes it tough,” Rodgers said. “You can see yourself it certainly does not help us. When it comes to playing games you certainly want it to be an advantage. If there’s any team it doesn’t help it’s us.”

But Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer believes the pitch at Anfield is far superior to the surface Liverpool can expect to play on at Ewood Park in a month’s time.

“Our players were pleasantly delighted to see so much grass on the pitch at Anfield,” he said. “Brendan was complaining about the pitch here. Wait until he sees Ewood. It makes this look like Wembley.”
 
I fear the ground will be uber uber fucked next season if it can't be replaced. There were some very obvious uneven bounces at the game on Saturday, one that nearly caught out Mignolet.
 
Isn't there some temporary measure that can be taken? Relaying the worst parts of the pitch or something. There must be a third way.
 
I'm surprised they can't go old school and just put some proper turf down and relay like once or twice during the season - might not be as high tech but might suffice for a season with some extra attention given.
 
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