Football Pitch Performance Standards (C) 
9) Surface evenness: The smoother the surface the better the consistency of playing experience. Unevenness and depressions can be readily identified by using a 3-m straight edge: a variation of ±25mm might be considered acceptable for a general quality pitch, but for pitches used by high performance players the surface evenness would be much smoother, possibly aiming for a parameter ±5mm. Whilst variations in evenness over short distances can be a trip hazard, for example, with some rabbit scrapings or heavily worn areas, issues can still arise over longer distances where the pitch can undulate creating unsatisfactory conditions for any player running or trying to control a ball at speed. For greater distances a string can be put down and pulled taught to provide a measure of the extent of depressions present within a pitch, and this is something which might not be adequately identified by using just a much smaller 3-metre straight edge.
10) Infiltration rate: the removal of water from the surface increases the likelihood of a game being played. High sand specification pitches will typically have a minimum rate of 100-150mm per hour, although in practice this might be 300-400mm per hour, which is arguably an over specification for pitches in the UK. Soil based pitches might be from 2mm to 5mm per hour, as a minimum target figure. The rate of percolation is also important because whilst the initial infiltration into the surface might be satisfactory, if the soil is compacted and poorly structured lower down in the soil profile then the water won’t be transmitted very far and gradually the soil pores will fill up with water resulting in a waterlogged pitch, and subsequent match cancellations.
11) Silt and clay content: There is little that can be done with an existing soil texture in practice, unless excessive cost is to be incurred. So, whilst parameters might be given any weighting used for an overall quality assessment might be low as this is outside the control of a ground’s manager. For a soil-based pitch the suggested maximum silt and clay content might be given as 30% (and this would assume low usage requirements over the main part of a playing season) but for a high specification sand based or sand dominated pitch this might be this might be a maximum of 2% or 3%.
12) Soil pH: Changing the pH of a rootzone in any significant way is usually impractical. However, the vast majority of soils will typically be within the range of pH 5.5 -7.5 which provides conditions that could range from slightly challenging (<pH5.8), to ideal (pH 6.0-7.0), to satisfactory (pH7.0-7.5) for a perennial ryegrass dominated sward. Knowing the soil pH and especially that of any applied top-dressings can help inform on the fertiliser programme, likelihood of earthworm surface activity, as well as the quality expectations from a pitch.
13) Nutrient levels: This is usually identified as Phosphate (P2O5) and Potash (K2O) and measured using the Defra Index scale. The ADHB Nutrient Management Guide (RB209, updated March 2022, p25) states that “Typically, maximum yield of arable crops or grass is reached at Index 2 for phosphorus and Index 2- for potassium.”
Fertilisers are then applied to ensure the Index is maintained at that level. Similar Index figures are typically used for perennial ryegrass dominated winter games pitches to ensure that these nutrients are essentially always available. However, the likelihood is that an Index 1 could be quite adequate for general maintenance purposes, especially where clippings are returned to a sward.
The aim of maximum yield (i.e. leaf growth) is certainly not a requirement for turfgrass surfaces, in fact this is the opposite of what is required, ideally availability which encourages healthy development in contrast to maximum growth which, when combined with nitrogen inputs, will require unnecessary and time consuming mowing. Relatively high levels of phosphate will also encourage clover and annual meadow in particular, with high levels of any nutrient acting as a resource for weeds and undesirable grasses.