Football pitch maintenance and management

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Earthworm activity when it is moist and mild can produce anything from a nuisance which is readily managed to significant smothering of a sward.

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Appropriate pitch preparation is needed to ensure that a pitch is safe to play on and meets the requirements of the Laws of the game is essential prior to each match.

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Football is played on a rectangular surface, with adult pitches typically being 100m in length and 60m to 70m in width (the FA’s suggestion is for a pitch to be 64m in width); there is also to be a 3m safety run-off width on each side.

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A general estimate of the number of occasions a task might typically be carried out over the 3-months of each season, but these would only be used as an informed forward planning guide as the current sward conditions, expected standards and prevailing weather conditions will influence the actual number of occasions any work might be required.

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Raking or scarification of the pitch surface will be carried out to varying degrees of severity.

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End of season renovation work will typically consist of cultivation of worn areas, if not the entire pitch, including scarification, or chain harrowing on basic level pitches, decompaction rather than routine aeration work, fertiliser application, overseeding and top-dressing.

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After match repairs, including divoting is always beneficial as this can help areas recover quicker if any cut up turf can be trod back down or tamped back down with a fork, or special divot fork. The time spent on this will vary according to available resources, with a minimum of 30-minutes for a general check of the surface and minor refixing of divots up to maybe 2-hours, and more, where the pitch has been badly cut up and adequate staff / volunteer numbers are available. Additional repair work may also be needed after the completion of a game and this would typically consist of a hand f

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Rolling is not task which would be carried out as a matter of routine on a football pitch.

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Sand top-dressing is an important part of football pitch maintenance, although it can often be neglected due the cost of the material and its application.

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These are materials that have an effect on and change the condition of the soil.

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