A lush green playing surface is an absolute prerequisite for professional football in the 21st century (a glance at footage from the 80s proves this wasn’t always the case). But a lot of behind-the-scenes efforts go into ensuring a smooth surface for the players to strut their stuff on a Saturday afternoon. And despite the advent of synthetic pitches, there’s no doubt turf is here to stay.

However, with water stress on the rise around the world, football pitches are as much under threat as agricultural fields and urban landscapes. The issue was startlingly brought to public attention in 2020 by Manchester City in cooperation with Xylem with their campaign, tellingly titled A World Without Water is a World Without Football. And as prominent futurist Mark Stevenson noted in a recent BBC interview, “The beautiful game should be played on a beautiful planet.”

Innovative irrigation

When football fans think of a groundsman, a traditional image of a flat-capped fellow with a hose and watering can may come to mind. But the truth is that irrigating football pitches has become as precise an art as dispatching the perfect free kick – and as precise a science as interpreting the narrowest VAR decision.

It’s often a fine balance, as grass is sensitive to too little or indeed too much water: “Overwatering saturates the soil creating an anaerobic environment which the plant cannot thrive in,” reports Scott Brooks, head groundsman at Ligue 1’s OGC Nice after previous roles at Arsenal and Tottenham. “But not enough water and the plant will quickly reach ‘wilt point’, for which the survival rate is very low. Geography plays a big part here.”

Having come from London to the south of France, Brooks was faced with very different geographies and the biggest challenges for a groundsman. This included high summer temperatures, hydrophobic soils, and issues establishing thriving grass which could support the rigours of high-level football.

No stranger to innovative thinking, Brooks decided to address diminished water availability by turning to state-of-the-art solutions.

“The lack of consistent rainfall meant two things: heavy reliance on the irrigation system and a demand to get the water exactly where it needs to be. I saw an opportunity to incorporate AQUA4D® into an improved irrigation system which would firstly get the water into the rootzone more efficiently but also help to reduce the watering window.”

OGC Nice - irrigation - Scott Brooks

Formerly, the limited capacity of the irrigation system meant it had taken 2.5 hours to water one pitch – an unthinkably long time. The improvements made to their irrigation system with AQUA4D® means a pitch can now be watered in under 25 minutes.

In the fast-paced world of top-level football, this was truly a game changer.

“As soon as the AQUA4D® was operational I reduced the timings of the stations by 20%-30%,” reports Brooks. “I’ve witnessed no detriment to the health of the turf – quite the opposite, in fact. Soil electroconductivity rates have consistently been in a good range which suggests that the breakdown of the water molecules has increased the nutrient uptake/availability in the soil. The consistent colour and turf vigour displayed this season would support that.”

Alongside organic fertilisers, Permavoid drainage systems and using food waste for undersoil heating, Brooks and his team at Nice are incorporating sustainability and efficiency at every turn.

England’s “Sustainability FC”

Arguably the closest thing the world has to a truly sustainable football club is Forest Green Rovers (find out more in this WeForum article). Led by the green credentials of chairman Dale Vince, they’ve made sporting headlines for everything from vegan match-day food to solar powered floodlights and a kit made from coffee bean waste.

Their approach to irrigation is no less innovative. Adam Witchell was groundsman there for 4 years, overseeing some innovative developments during this time. Nothing was left to chance, with just as much strict measurement as would be familiar to crop irrigation. “I worked hard on collecting the data of water usage, this allowed me to make savings and also collect the data to see how much water was needed to get optimum play from the plant on the pitch,” Witchell reports. “I would continuously check the pitch profile had between 20-30 % moisture. This also allowed me to see what areas drained better and only watering the areas that needed it.”

Located in the south of England, you might not think that Forest Green Rovers would have to give much consideration to water efficiency in this country famous for rainfall. However, as everywhere else the country is experiencing the vagaries of a changing climate and must prepare for every eventuality.

“In the last two years the winters have been milder and very much wetter,” notes Witchell. “Recycling the rainwater through the pitch drains saved the club hundreds of pounds a year, and by monitoring the amount of rain I collected the data and could work out how long the granular feeds would stay in the profile and how long the product would work for.”

This adaptation reflects the changes that irrigation managers in other industries are making, such as food growers in South America facing El Niño / La Niña conditions with an astonishingly fluctuating water supply. And with grass particularly sensitive to over- or under-watering, new technologies can help manage this variability and new uncertainty.

Football as a force for good

“I believe football can spread and promote sustainability – if you look at the millions of people that follow sports there is no better way to get the message out,” concludes Adam Witchell. “It is good to use all platforms to showcase examples and promote the best ecological practices.”

Back in Nice, the success of implementing AQUA4D® and other technologies has spurred Scott Brooks on to pursue further sustainable initiatives. “The pitch maintenance provider has commissioned a study at my request to measure our carbon footprint with the aim of finding ways to become a ‘carbon neutral’ grounds team. So far there is a commitment to plant 361 trees, ranging from 59 oak trees to 174 pine trees.”

As the football season draws to a close and the players jet away, take a moment to appreciate these unsung heroes maintaining playing surfaces back home – and innovating to ensure the sport can continue to be enjoyed by millions across the world in the face of an uncertain climatic future.

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  • Landscape Irrigation

“The beautiful game should be played on a beautiful planet.” – Mark Stevenson

“I believe football can spread and promote sustainability – with millions of people following sports there’s no better way to get the message out.” – Adam Witchell

Sustainable irrigation at OGC Nice, France

Water-smart irrigation for conservation and productivity