A football field contains 57,600 square feet within the sidelines. The area outside the sidelines and inside the running track that surrounds most football fields contains a minimum of 30,000 square feet. Together, these two areas comprise at least 88,000 square feet, or 2 acres of turf grass.

1. R. Perumal
2016603110
M.Sc.,Floricultureandlandscaping

2. 57,600 square feet within the sidelines
Contains a minimum of 30,000 square feet
outside the sidelines
Comprise 88,000 square feet or 2 acres of
turf grass

3. Football court

4. Football Turf Establishment
It is of two types :
Natural turf
Artificial or synthetic turf

6. Steps in Establishment
Planning
Designing
Establishment
Maintenance
Steps

7. Planning
Development
 Cost
 Period of construction
 Duration of Construction
Additional costs
 Maintenance
 Rejuvanation

8. Basic design principles
 Cross falls steep – less than 1:80 – 1:100 along the
line and 1:50-1:60 across the line of play
 All drainage systems should be with adequate
positive outfall
 Drainage designed to cope with a 1 in 50 year storm
Designing

9. Levels Adjustment
 Minor changes (+- 50 mm), cultivation and grading within the soil
profile
 Greater earthworks need a cut and fill approach is generally
prescribed
Cut and fill works

10. Leveling

11. Drainage
Un Drained Pitches :
In cases where sandy soils overly gravel, limestone
and chalk there have been exceptions
Drained Pitches :
 Pipe drained pitches
 Pipe and Slit drained pitches
 Sand Carpet Pitch
 Suspended water table root zone pitch
 Soil over drainage layer

12. Un drained pitches do not perform in the majority of
cases

13. Pipe drain Pitch

14. Pipe and slit drain pitches

15. Sand Carpet Pitch

16. Soil Over Drainage Layer Pitch

17. Suspended Water Table Pitch

18. Turf Establishment
Warm season grasses
 Bermuda grass overseeding with Perennial
Ryegrass - keep wear minimal and provide for a
green field color

19. Cool Season Grasses
 Kentucky Bluegrass is the
dominate choice
 Perennial Ryegrass is often
added to blue grasses

20. Transitional zone
 Tall Fescues and Bermudas are both used.
 Over seeded each winter with Rye grasses to avoid
playing on dormant fields
 Kentucky Bluegrass is also used in the more northern
parts

21. Laying methods
Grass establishment
 Cheapest and best
way to establish a
grass sward on a new
pitch
 Certified seed of at
least 3 cultivars with
high rating are used
Turfing
 Faster but more
expensive way
 Require hollow tine
aeration for first two
years

22. Football Turf Management
Management for…
Safety
Playability
Aesthetics

23. Weed Control
 Pre-emergence herbicides should be applied the
latter part of April to early May for grass weed control
 Maintaining dense turfgrass will greatly reduce the
weed

24. Fertilizer Applications
 Shallow root systems are unable to draw upon
reserves deeper within soil profiles
 Nutrient uptake is also determined by the oxygen
status of the root zone
 The most important nutrients are nitrogen,
potassium and phosphorus

25.  As nitrogen is the most important nutrient and can
influence wear tolerance
 The optimum values for sand ameliorated soil
pitches have been determined at 160- 200 kg
nitrogen/ha/year
 Fertilization should be carried out three times per
year
CONT…..

26.  Fertilization should be carried out three times per
year, applying 1800 to 2700 Kg of actual N per
season for maximum results
 At least one-half the N should come from controlled
release forms
 Potassium is required in relatively large amounts,
second only to nitrogen
 Phosphorous have no visual effect on grass
health
CONT……

27. Irrigation
Irrigation application systems includes,
 Fully automated pop up sprinklers
 Perimeter pop up sprinklers and mobile center
sprinklers
 Mobile irrigators
 Stationary sprinklers from hydrant points
Irrigation have to provide 1.0 to 1.5 inches of
precipitation per week

28. Irrigation Application in
Dry Periods
 Watering during the evening/night allows for minimum
evaporation of water and will provide maximum
benefit.
 Combining watering with shallow aeration or
spiking/forking allows water to penetrate the grass
canopy
 Dry spots in high use areas such as goal mouths will
probably need more water than others

29. Making aeration
Pop up irrigation system

30. Pitch maintenance and Renovations
Conditions for renovations
 Complete reconstruction due to irregularity in levels,
heavy clay top soils, drainage issues and poor swards
 Pitches did not have an adequate rest period for a spring
season renovation
 There was a lack of adequate irrigation systems on
pitches

31. Renovation activities
Level adjustments, goalmouth turfing
Turfing of high wear areas
i.e. goalmouths and the penalty spot
Sward improvements
 Soil profile improvements

33. Localized Levels Adjustment
 Necessary on pitches with high levels of wear such as in
goalmouth areas
1. Cleaning up the area
2. Vertidraining
3. Top-dressing
4. Fertilizer application
5. Over seeding

34. Turfing on
goalmouth

35. Sward Improvements
 Turfing of hard wearing grasses in bad swards
 Scarifying dead grasses and unwanted sward
 Over seeding and fertilization
 Rest period fro 8 weeks
 Regular mowing for leveled sward

36. Soil Profile Improvements
Sand topdressing
 Carried out during the growing season and be
in combination with verti-draining
 Sand to be brushed into channels and
improve drainage and rooting depth
 Followed by fertilizer and irrigation application

37. Aerification
 Core aerification done at least twice a year
I. In the spring
II. Prior to the start of a game series.
 Cores should either be pulverized with a power
rake,
 The field topdressed with the appropriate rootzone
mix.
 If the field needs aerification during the playing
season, coring is often not desirable. Solid-tine
slicing would relieve surface compaction without
play disruption

38. Topdressing
 The thin application of soil over the turf surface
 To smooth the turf surface and fill in damaged areas
 The use of soil or composts with proper biological
components
 Also crumb rubber will soften the soil surface and
protect the grass crown from abrasive damage in high-
traffic areas

39. CONT…..
 When the fields are not in use for 2 days, a 1/4 inch
layer can be applied, giving the grass time to recover
and not hamper the skill of the players
Seeding :
 Seed after each aerification or topdressing

40. Mowing
 Regular mowing encourages a thicker sward and
improves presentation on the pitch
 Rotary mowers are generally less maintenance
 Cylinder mowers provides a better finish
 In an ideal scenario a combination of cylinder and
rotary mowing should be used

41. Performance Testing
 Performance testing should be carried out by an independent
agency
 This can be incorporated into design and build projects.
 Assessments include;
 Live grass cover
 Grass species composition
 Rooting depth
 Stud traction
 Hardness
 Penetration
 Infiltration
 Grass height Performance testing for traction

43. Artificial turf
 Resistance to weather and ability to sustain more
intensive use make it the best alternative to natural
grass
 FIFA developed a testing scheme for artificial turf
 Only artificial football turf playing surfaces that have
been tested in accordance with the FIFA Quality
Programme test criteria in the laboratory

44. 3G Artificial turf
Consists of
 An artificial turf with synthetic blades
 Layers of specially selected sand and performance
infills
 A shock-absorbing layer underneath the turf

46. HISTORY
Ist Artificial turf in football
The FIFA Quality Programme for Football Turf
The first FIFA tournament on football turf
1980
2001
2003

47.  The Fédération Internationale de Football
Association (FIFA) is an association governed by
Swiss law founded in 1904 and based in Zurich.
 It has 211 member associations and its goal,
enshrined in its Statutes, is the constant
improvement of football
FIFA

48. FIFA

49. FIFA
Licensed manufacture of turf

50. FIFA Test

51. Ball roll test

52. Ball Rebound Test

53. Straight edge test

54. Sub base preparation Installation of e-layer
Installation of infill materialPreparation of seam tape

55. Oscillating brush to make
fibres upright
Maintenance
Basic brush to clean the
turf

56. Accumulation of infill
material in corner area
Removing debris
from turf

57. A lack of maintenance will lead to
discomfort and frustration for players because of
• Faster movement of the ball
• Uneven roll of the ball
• Variable bounce of the ball
• Having to run on a hard surface
• Poor grip of the surface
PLAYING PERFORMANCE

58. Thank you…
U CAN PLAY…