Football Pitch Decompaction

Decompaction of a pitch, especially soil-based ones which have not been constructed but rather marked out as a pitch on a general soil-based area, will be very beneficial.

Shattering of the soil to provide for increased fissuring and disruption of the soil profile to increase the soil volume is essential if improved drainage capability is to be maintained and match cancellations reduced over the winter period.

The outcome will vary depending on a range of variables, especially existing soil condition and rainfall frequency over the winter period, but decompaction should be seen as an essential maintenance activity, which is carried out on several occasions per year, for soil-based pitches.

The main decompaction equipment is a deep spiker, such as a Verti-drain, which might take between 3 and 5 hours per pitch at closest tine spacings, whilst a linear tine deep aerator might take between 2 and 4 hours. Timings are generic and will depend on depth of penetration, closeness of tines, operating width of unit, ground conditions, forward speed of tractor and operator skill.

Unless a club has a suitable tractor and decompaction equipment then they will need to procure the services of a specialist contractor, with a generic cost being £400 per decompaction, with this varying from how far the contractor needs to travel, demand for the work, number of pitches being worked on during the visit and the extent of work required.