Sheffield Wednesday fans set to notice differences to Hillsborough next season
Sheffield Wednesday confirmed this week that significant investment was being placed in the playing surfaces at both Hillsborough and their Middlewood Road training ground, with the stadium pitch undertaking treatment that goes beyond the extent of regular end-of-season work as the surface comes to the end of what has been described as a 10-year cycle. Work is being put into both training pitches simultaneously to bring them closer together in terms of their feel and hardness in a bid to reduce the risk of player injury.
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Indications from within the club also suggest supporters will see an aesthetic difference looking onto the pitch from their seats within the stadium. New surfaces are being laid around the playing surface in efforts spearheaded by new head groundsperson Lee Jackson, who has thanked the club for their backing of the new projects.
“I’ve had a look at it in terms of what is around the pitch,” he told club media. “A lot of it is wasted space and space that gets damaged with our stuff in terms of mowers on grass in front of advertising boards and what have you. So we’re going to standardise that around the edge. The difference this time is that because of the whole sustainability aspect of rubber crumbing on artificial pitches, we’re taking that away completely.
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“We’re taking the technology on non-infill carpets, without the rubber in, which has come on significantly. That’s going in at the academy as well this week and next week. So that will give us a better feel for the players.
A track of artificial turf that previously ran along the touchline in front of the South Stand will be taken out with grass extended – another move that could potentially reduce the threat of player injury – as Wednesday seek to look forwards. The changes will alter the look of the pitch from the stands and on television and will also open up the possibility of further commercial revenue through advertising, Jackson suggested.
He continued: “On the south side we’re also increasing the grass area by a full metre, so when a ball partly goes out, at least the player has his foot on actual grass rather than artificial, because that is needed. We’re future-proofing ourselves because it’s not a regulation or a requirement, but I’m putting this pitch together – the whole spec – for the next 10 years.
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“We want to future-proof it. What you see at other grounds, you see things like advertising on the pitch perimeters and with the carpet going in that will give us more scope, if we want to want to do that, to potentially bring some more revenue into the club as well.
“It’s for that long-term vision. It’s not for the next year or the next two years, you’ve got to think well ahead. We’re not spending a small amount of money here, so it’s got to be spent properly, it’s got to be spent wisely and I think the club have been fantastic in terms of backing up what needs to be done and I’m really looking forward to what we see in a few weeks time where everything is up and running.”
