Work has begun at Preston North End on what it described as the biggest refurbishment of its pitch in 30 years.
The playing surface is being entirely ripped out to be replaced by a hybrid surface which combines real grass with artificial fibres, as commonly seen at the stadiums of elite teams.
North End have not revealed how much the work will cost but described it as a seven-figure investment and club officials believe it will tackle issues which have plagued the quality of the pitch. Complaints over the surface have become commonplace and even head groundsman Pete Ashworth described it as “horrendous”.
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He said: “Everyone’s seen how it’s gone the last probably two or three winters. It’s been horrendous really and it’s been hard work. We probably do more work than we’ve ever done on the pitch and we just weren’t getting the results what we’d want in terms of how it looked, how it played.
“So, just getting that stability and with a hybrid stitching that’ll uh make the players trust the surface more. They’ll have more faith in it. The ball will roll smoother. It’ll just be so much better for everyone.”
Announcing the plans, the club said the new GrassMaster pitch will offer greater endurance and resistance to bad weather and low temperatures, allowing it to stay in better condition throughout winter and towards the end of the season. It will also involve the installation of undersoil heating alongside new irrigation and drainage systems, with work expected to be complete by the end of July.
Ashworth added: “The first thing you do when you walk in a football ground generally, everyone looks at the pitch and says, “Wow, look at that.” And from January through to April, no one’s been saying that. And that’s on us. That’s on everyone. It’s, you know, we want it looking the best.
“The players want to walk out of that tunnel, have faith in the pitch, and, you know, know that they can do their job to the best of their ability and not be worrying about bobbles or the footwear giving way under the feet. So, it’s just going to be 100 per cent better here.”
Ashworth has spoken about some of the other benefits the improvements will bring. “We’ve said for a while now that we’re looking at bringing players in – you see the lads we get on loan from Premier League clubs – they’re all being brought up on these hybrid pitches and we couldn’t provide that and they notice a difference straight away.
“So just getting that improvement, hopefully we’ll start to attract players from top academies or top Premier League clubs and they’ll want to sign for us because we’ve got one of the best pitches in the league.”
