What’s the story behind #PitchUpdate?

    In our 25th season at the Lookers Vauxhall Stadium, the pitch is undergoing its biggest revamp to date.

    On May 24th, work began on improving the playing surface for the 2017-18 season.

    In previous years, the pitch had simply been reseeded over the old surface – but this year was slightly different.

    The top inch of the pitch was taken off, which means the surface loses its dead old grass (poa) and will also be levelled out nicely for the players who take to the field.

    The new grass has grown through quickly (rye grass) and will see a better appearance and colour in time for our first home friendly against Walsall on 22nd July.

    CEO Mark Maguire said: “When I arrived last July it was pretty clear that we were up against it in terms of having the pitch the way we wanted it for the start of the season.

    “Mike Barrow did a great job of getting us through – but it was pretty clear that we needed to invest in doing a proper job this summer. It has been many years since the grass has been taken up completely and reseeded and that led to plenty of the wrong type of grass and weeds affecting the playing surface.

    “By undertaking this major overhaul for the first time – certainly since the club was reformed – we can look forward to a playing surface which should be amongst the best in the league and I know Mike is relishing the challenge of manicuring it to perfection over the coming weeks.

    “It is another bit of progress in our attempts to do things properly at the club and I hope the fans – and of course the players – will notice the difference.”