Last year, Smith Construction built a brand new 3G pitch at the Meadowbank Football Ground in Surrey. The facility has since become the base for Surrey County FA’s headquarters and home ground for Dorking Wanderers FC. The pitch was originally tested to pass FIFA Quality which meets the standard for community and amateur pitches.
Since last year, Dorking Wanderers FC have been promoted to a higher league. This requires the pitch to pass the higher standard of FIFA Quality Pro, which ensures the highest playing performance for professional-level football. To continue playing in their promoted league, Dorking Wanderers required the pitch to meet this excellence.
Meadowbank Football Ground have a fantastic in-house team completing day-to-day maintenance, which Smith Maintenance complement with a bi-monthly maintenance contract. The pitch is extremely well cared for; however, Smith Maintenance knew the surface would require additional care and attention to meet the high expectations of the FIFA Quality Pro accreditation.
The experienced technicians, of the Smith Maintenance department carried out an in-depth deep de-compaction treatment, using their own specially designed tractor driven de-compaction unit. To ensure the rubber infill is thoroughly de-compacted, the tractor passes over the pitch several times. The surface and infill were then thoroughly cleaned with all dirt and dust vacuum extracted and the clean infill was evenly re-distributed across the pitch.
Once the additional maintenance was undertaken, Meadowbank Football Grounds was then FIFA tested by independent test house, Labosport, to FIFA Quality Pro standards. We’re delighted to report that one year on and the Smith Maintenance technicians managed to achieve not only a FIFA Pass, but a higher certified pass than the original build criteria.
Facilities Manager, Matthew Walsh comments, “Surrey FA are delighted with how the pitch has responded to the works. We were very impressed with the speed, quality and professionalism of the works undertaken by Smiths. We are now proud to have a top quality 3G pitch here in Surrey, capable of hosting international fixtures at Meadowbank. We hope this can really help all users enjoy their football, knowing that they are playing on the very best surface available.”
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