Remarkable Renovation at the Ricoh

Moving into its third year, the XtraGrass pitch at the Ricoh Arena has had another successful renovation following an action-packed season which saw Wasps Rugby finish as runners up in the Aviva Rugby Premiership.

In the same season, Coventry City played over 30 home games, the Rugby League Four Nations took place as well as community and corporate events, not to mention a sell-out Robbie Williams concert.

The GreenFields hybrid product- XtraGrass is able to withstand dual sports as well as additional events due to its increased strength and durability compared to natural grass. It has proven to be a perfect surface for the Ricoh Arena which hosts both football and rugby as well as concerts in the summer months.

“Not only does the pitch at the Ricoh look good all year round, there’s much more stability under foot in the middle of a scrum.”

Jake Cooper Woolley, Wasps RFC

Over the past month, the GreensFields Grounds Team supported by Premier Pitches (a leading sports turf renovation contractor) carried out a number of mechanical operations to effectively clean the surface to enable new grass sward to develop.

The renovation work included the following detailed processes:

- The removal and collection of the immediate vegetation

- Dislodging any remaining organic accumulations resulting in a clean surface to re-expose the XtraGrass fibres

- Importing sand and applying to the XtraGrass fibres to stabilise the surface level

- Sowing new grass seed

- Application of pre-seed fertilizer

- Verti-draining to provide deep aeration

Following this the pitch now has a five-week period where the natural grass has time to re-establish itself properly. This will be supported by additional processes from our Grounds Team to positively promote the grass growth.

After a busy summer of renovations, the XtraGrass pitch will be ready and geared up for the busy football and rugby season starting on 5 August with Coventry’s first home match.