What makes a pitch worth ‘a million dollars’? Arsenal’s deal secures its second stadium.

by Andrew Crawshaw

The ‘million dollar’ quote is from the Borehamwood FC Chairman following the completion of the installation of the ‘Desso’ pitch at the ground Arsenal will be using for its PL2 and Ladies fixtures for at least the next 10 years.

In this article, as a preview to both the opening of the ground and the first of what will be many Arsenal games at the ground, we look at both the Desso pitch, and how Arsenal and Borehamwood football clubs have come together to upgrade this ground and make it Arsenal’s permanent second home.

The Desso Pitch

We have all heard about Desso pitches and probably know that they are a combination of grass and artificial fibres but until yesterday that was about the extent of my knowledge. I did some digging around to find out more following my article on the Borehamwood v Arsenal friendly match and I thought I would share my new found knowledge.

Desso are a international company who produce carpets, artificial grass and hybrid grass systems amongst other things. There are now more than 590 hybrid grass systems installed around the world including the Emirates and now Borehamwood. They cover football, NFL, Rugby Super league teams, Multisport venues amongst others.

Desso GrassMaster® hybrid grass is a 100% natural grass pitch reinforced by millions of Desso artificial turf fibres. The natural grass roots intertwine with the 200mm long injected fibres and form a dense root system that ensures a stable surface and enables typically 3 times the playing time possible on a normal grass pitch.

There is a good video on the Borehamwood FC site which has an interview with Arsenal Assistant Groundsman, Ben Howell, which covers the benefits of the pitch system and shows the installation of the fibres. If you have a few minutes you might like to follow the link to the interview.

WHY IS A DESSO PITCH SO SPECIAL? ARSENAL GROUNDSMAN …

If you haven’t got the time here are the basics.

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Start with a good underground pitch drainage system – if water landing on the surface of the pitch can’t drain away in a timely fashion you will never be able to establish a good grass system. This will comprise a network of interconnected perforated pipes which will eventually discharge to a local sewer or watercourse. By pumping water into this system you can also provide watering to the root system or frost protection by using warm water. Install a layer of gravel to enclose the drainage pipes to ensure a free drainage path into the pipes. Lay a separating membrane to stop fine particles from washing downwards and blocking the holes in the pipes or the voids in the gravel. Lay a growing mixture of sand and compost for the grass to grow in. This layer needs to be about 225 to 250mm thick to allow for the installation of the ‘Desso’ strands which are pushed 200mm from the surface. Plant your grass seed or install a suitable pre-grown turf. Take 15 days (or thereabouts) to install the Desso grass reinforcement system. This is a network of woven plastic strands which are punched through the grass into the growing medium. 200mm below ground and approximately 15 to 20 mm left above ground. The strands are punched on a 2 * 2cm grid across the whole of the pitch surface so that is a lot of holes. In total the strands amount to approximately 3% of the pitch surface area. Mow the grass to a length that is 10 to 15mm longer than the protruding strands – you don’t want the mower blades removing the fibres!

You now have a pitch that won’t cut up and will be consistent in terms of bounce and will look fantastic throughout the season, no matter how many times you play on it. In short the same pitch as you see week by week at the Emirates and now at non-league Borehamwood.

The Borehamwood and Arsenal link

Arsenal have signed a ‘Staging Agreement’ with Borehamwood FC to hold our PL2 (Under 23) matches and our Ladies Fixtures at their ground for the next 10 years and with the extra games it won’t take long for the benefits of the new pitch to be realised.

This arrangement ended speculation that Arsenal might follow Manchester City in building their own secondary stadium that could be used for these fixtures, and in every respect makes perfect sense, as it allows Arsenal to support a club that is very much on the up, and with whom it has excellent links for a good many years.

Borehamwood Football Club will celebrate its 70th Anniversary at the end of the forthcoming 2017/18 season, having been formed in 1948 following the amalgamation of Boreham Rovers and Royal Retournez.

In its formative years the club progressed through the Mid-Herts, Parthenon, Spartan and Athenian Leagues. But 2016/17 saw the club reach 11th place National League finish – an extraordinary achievement for a club that has most recently risen through both the Ryman Leagues, through the Conference South and into the National League Premier.

£1.8 million has been invested in the club this summer, to build a new training facility, lay the new DESSO pitch of Premier League quality, install new floodlights and dugouts meaning the facilities are now 90% utilised on a daily basis, 52 weeks of the year.

The club also houses the largest sports education programme in the whole country, which has now been established for well over a decade. It is a programme that boasts over 575 scholar/students and the club has already registered a possible 600 for the next academic year and the 2017/18 season.

Last season

And in case you fancy going for the first time, Borehamwood lies within the triangle formed by the M25 in the north, the M1 to the west and the A1 to the east. The full address is Meadow Park, Broughinge Road, Borehamwood, Herts, WD6 5AL, and there are directions to the ground here.

Here’s last season’s table for the club – but we might now notice that Borehamwood will have a London derby against Leyton Orient in the coming season.

# Team P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Lincoln City 46 30 9 7 83 40 43 99 2 Tranmere 46 29 8 9 79 39 40 95 3 Forest Green Rovers 46 25 11 10 88 56 32 86 4 Dagenham & Redbridge 46 26 6 14 79 53 26 84 5 Aldershot Town 46 23 13 10 66 37 29 82 6 Dover Athletic 46 24 7 15 85 63 22 79 7 Barrow 46 20 15 11 72 53 19 75 8 Gateshead 46 19 13 14 72 51 21 70 9 Macclesfield Town 46 20 8 18 64 57 7 68 10 Bromley 46 18 8 20 59 66 -7 62 11 Boreham Wood 46 15 13 18 49 48 1 58 12 Sutton United 46 15 13 18 61 63 -2 58 13 Wrexham 46 15 13 18 47 61 -14 58 14 Maidstone United 46 16 10 20 59 75 -16 58 15 Eastleigh FC 46 14 15 17 56 63 -7 57 16 Solihull Moors 46 15 10 21 62 75 -13 55 17 Torquay United 46 14 11 21 54 61 -7 53 18 Woking 46 14 11 21 66 80 -14 53 19 Chester FC 46 14 10 22 63 71 -8 52 20 Guiseley 46 13 12 21 50 67 -17 51 21 York City 46 11 17 18 55 70 -15 50 22 Braintree Town 46 13 9 24 51 76 -25 48 23 Southport FC 46 10 9 27 52 97 -45 39 24 North Ferriby United 46 12 3 31 32 82 -50 39

We’ll be reporting on the PL2 games and the Arsenal Ladies games at the ground. Last season Borehamwood had an average crowd of just 477 – the lowest in the National League – their highest crowd being 1002. This compares with an average crowd for Lincoln of 5161, and it is very much to be hoped that the improvements to the ground will encourage more to turn up.

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