Tottenham Groundsman Poised For NFL Challenge
Tottenham Hotspur together with the NFL have announced that as part of a new 10-year deal, a minimum of two NFL games a year will be played in a ground-breaking new stadium in London.
Due to open in 2018, the stadium will feature a retractable grass field to host the Tottenham matches, with an artificial surface underneath that would be used for NFL games. Tottenham Hotspur Grounds Manager Darren Baldwin reveals that his team has been working closely throughout the planning process to deliver a world-class pitch, striving to find the right dynamics between developing optimal grass turf and the NFL pitch underlay.
The new stadium in Premier League mode . . .
“It’s been really exciting to be honest – I think anywhere you have new technology and get to try something new in the industry is challenging, but also very exciting for the club and the staff involved,” he told Turf Business exclusively. “(The design) has been probably quite a unique challenge, and one that we are looking forward to working on with great anticipation. It is a fantastic design and we look forward to implementing the building in due course.”
. . . and in NFL mode.
The £400 million stadium is being built as part of the Northumberland Development Project, which set out to build a replacement forWhite Hart Lane to serve as the home stadium of Tottenham Hotspur. In addition to having two playing surfaces, it will host live entertainment events and have a seating capacity of 61,000, making it one of the most impressive multi-purpose venues in the UK.
The stadium will get its first outing in the 2018/2019 season.
Darren and the project team are already piloting possible mechanics to use to retract the turf, along with how to effectively deploy staff to manage the transition between the two pitches. The delivery optimal playing surfaces is the highest priority for the club while taking into account the technical aspects, which means they are looking at a number of different technologies to get the job done.
There are already guidelines in place as to what the NFL playing surfaces require, and with more UK clubs such as Saracens playing rugby on synthetic surfaces, access to the relevant technology is becoming more readily available.
“I think technology has moved on considerably from the early retractable pitches, such as the Millennium Stadium palletized system,” he says, adding that lighting rigs and technology have played a significant role in them being able to develop the new state-of-the-art pitch. “I’m sure that if we went back 15 years pre-lights being available, we wouldn’t be in the position to achieve the type of design we are looking to bring to life at White Hart Lane.”
It promises to be an exciting three years until the NFL touches down in Tottenham.