Football and Rugby Pitches
Our Construction Experience
Fineturf is a specialist contractor for the construction, renovation and maintenance of natural turf football and rugby pitches in the UK. Our comprehensive services for winter sports pitches include site surveying, design and project management, removal of surface vegetation, earthworks, drainage, preparation, surface installation, aftercare and maintenance.
Our clients include professional sports clubs, non-league and community clubs, local authorities, universities, schools and academies, where we often work closely with civil engineering companies.
Natural Grass Sports Pitch Construction – What's Involved?
Projects range in size and scope from single pitches for the grass roots game to large multi-facility venues. All new grass football and rugby pitches are constructed and renovated to meet the Natural Turf for Sport guidance set out by Sport England.
With decades of experience, our engineers confidently develop strategies to overcome any construction challenges and site-specific issues involving soil composition, formation and structures, remediation and drainage. Our highly-trained teams use our fully-owned fleet of specialist machinery.
Project Planning and Site Setup
Following a site survey, project design and planning, vegetation is removed.
Topsoil Strip and Earthworks
Existing topsoil is stripped and can be stockpiled for reuse. Cut and fill earthworks if required.
Drainage and Laser Levelling
Primary and secondary drainage installation and sand slits. Topsoil replacement, sand amelioration and laser levelling.
Prepare Final Surface
The pitch surface is consolidated and a pre-turf fertiliser applied before high-quality sports turf is laid or a specialist seed sown. Contract to ensure a successful grow-in and ongoing maintenance schedules.
New Pitch Construction – Advice and Professional Support
If you're considering applying for funding or grants for new football or rugby pitches, we can signpost you to current design guidance and potential funding streams.
Football and Rugby Pitches – End of Season Renovations
End of season renovations are a vital part of a pitch maintenance programme and the key to retaining a high-quality playing surface year after year. We renovate natural turf and hybrid pitches at stadiums and training grounds. Renovation work varies, depending on what's required and could include:
- Surface removal, cultivation, application of sports sand, drainage and sand slit installation.
- Deep tine aeration or use the latest Airter® pneumatic aeration machine to relieve compaction, oxygenate the rootzone, and to help surface water drainage.
- Application of Profile®, a porous soil amendment to the rootzone to improve germination, aid water and nutrient retention and promote deep rooting.
- Disc and or dimple seeding with a high-quality ryegrass seed blend or re-turfing, followed by a fertiliser application.
Hybrid Turf
Tillers Hybrid Turf is a high-quality, hybrid carpet reinforced turf system. It provides elite clubs with all the benefits of a hybrid pitch, grown and maintained off-site to your own specifications, which is ready to ‘lay and play’ on demand.
Tillers Hybrid Turf pitches have revolutionised stadium surface management. They extend the window of opportunity to host large-scale events prior to sporting fixtures, without compromising pitch quality, and provide a customised solution for mid-season pitch replacement.
Tillers Hybrid Turf pitches are available as supply-only, or as a full turnkey service from specification through to installation.
Hybrid Turf Carpet Installation
Tillers Hybrid Turf is the result of a collaborative partnership between Tillers Turf, the UK’s premier sports turf producer, and contractor and installer, Fineturf. Together we have established a team dedicated to providing Tillers Hybrid Turf sports pitches for professional football and rugby clubs, backed by many years’ experience in design, specification, pitch production and installation.
When your surface is required, it is precision-harvested, transported to its destination in temperature-controlled vehicles, and laid by expert installers. From initial harvesting through transport and laying, every installation is carried with the upmost care and attention to detail to order to deliver the highest quality playing surface.
Artificial Football and Rugby Pitches
Fineturf can assist with every aspect of the construction of artificial football and rugby pitches including design and specification, groundworks, construction, installation, resurfacing and upgrading. Find out more about our dedicated in-house synthetic sports surfaces team and the services we offer.
