Football Pitch Annual Material Requirements

The total quantity of materials that might be needed to maintain a soil-based football pitch can vary considerably due to a number of factors, including:

• The available budget.

• The desired standard of the pitch – the higher up the league a club is, the higher the desired standard; A higher standard of play will typically require greater material inputs, but this isn’t always the case.

• The more games that are played will require more marking out and more post-match repairs to ensure a suitable standard is maintained.

• The geographic location of the surface. There is a longer growing season in the south as compared with the north of the country; so, preparation work might be able to commence earlier in the south than the north, plus the mowing season will also impact on fuel usage.

• Prolonged wet weather may limit the quantity and type of activities that can be carried out without causing soil compaction.

• The current condition of the surfaces. Additional materials may be needed for improvements to get the pitch up to a suitable standard in the first instance.

• The soil type and any drainage system. The soil type will be the main influencer on potential match cancellations, the amount of use a pitch can sustain, and when some activities can take effectively place.

The following guide is based on a 6,000m² pitch within a central geographic location:

• Top-dressing: mostly sand, ranging from an ‘ideal’ of 60 tonnes per annum to possibly 10 tonnes where usage is relatively light and/or surface conditions are generally satisfactory needing only minor end of season renovation work; the cost can be significantly influenced by the distance from supplier to site; (£500 to £3,000).

• Contractor costs to supply and apply 20 tonnes might be in the region of £1,500 to £4,500 - £7,000 for 90 tonnes.

• Fertiliser: 210kg per application if applied at 35g/m²; x 2 applications = 21 bags @20kg bag (£500-£600+).

• Grass Seed: 2 to 11 bags – depending on extent of renovation needed (£200 - £1,100+).

• Water (for irrigation): (potable water supply and drainage (the latter aspect for cost charges might be reduced by 75%): ~ £1 per m³ with 500m³ applied (£500).

• Herbicide: £150+ per application.

• Mowing: 15 to 30 hours of mowing activity, using maybe 5 litres of diesel is per hour @ £1.30 per litre (£100 - £200). If hand mowing takes place, then obviously this will increase the fuel costs where petrol mowers are used.

• Line marking material: @£5-£7 per overmark x 70 games and full overmarks = £350 - £490.