Coventry City: Sky Blues re-lay CBS Arena pitch again
- Published
CBS Arena pitch suppliers Hewitt Sportsturf also count Wembley Stadium among their clients
Coventry City have begun work on installing a new pitch at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
The beaten Championship play-off finalists suffered major pitch problems at the start of last season.
Use of the pitch by then landlords Wasps for Commonwealth Games rugby and pop concerts left the pitch in an unusable state.
Remedial work was done by independent sport turf experts, appointed by the English Football League, who had to mediate over what share of the six-figure bill should be paid by either the Sky Blues or Wasps.
City remain the tenants at their home arena under new landlords, Mark Ashley's Frasers Group, who were allowed to take over the running of the stadium last November by the administrators after Wasps had been forced to close.
But this time it is the Sky Blues themselves who are footing the bill, for an undisclosed amount.
"It is important to have the best surface possible for the team to play on," said owner Doug King.
"That is why the club is undertaking this significant capital expenditure at the arena after the signing of the long-term lease agreement."
Hewitts Sportsturf will lay the new pitch - and have already dug up the existing pitch to get the playing surface ready in time for next season.
They have stripped off 150mm of last season's pitch, including the artificial fibres installed last summer, and a new irrigation system has been installed - as well as sand levels being topped back up, by 150mm of fresh sand. New stitching will be inserted, as well as 4G carpet around the outskirts of the pitch, to replace the previous concrete track.
"The surface will be identical to the brand new training pitches being installed at Sky Blue Lodge, which are beginning to look in great condition," added King.
"After the difficulties surrounding the pitch last season and not being able to play at home during the opening weeks of the season, it was important that we started working at the arena as soon as possible."
Fixtures will be announced next week for the new campaign, which gets under way on the first weekend in August.
As well as Wembley, Hewitt Sportsturf have the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, West Ham's London Stadium, Cardiff's Principality Stadium, Exeter Chiefs' Sandy Park and the Parc des Princes in Paris, home of PSG, among their customers.