SGL active at World Cup South Africa

Five of the South African World Cup stadiums are working with Dutch company SGL to achieve top quality pitches at this summer's World Cup. The SGL Concept, a system that enhances grass growth, is being used at most of the top stadiums in Europe. The following South African stadium will now also be using the proven technology:

- Johannesburg, Soccer City
- Johannesburg, Ellis Park
- Cape Town, Green Point Stadium
- Nelspruit, Mbombela Stadium
- Durban, Moses Mabhida Stadium

In these stadium the shaded areas are treated with the SGL grow light rigs. In close cooperation with STRI, the FIFA appointed pitch consultancy, there has been a tremendous amount of hard work delivered over the past few months to ensure the success of these projects.

STRI has carried out detailed analyses on the growing conditions of the turf in all the World Cup stadiums. These analyses showed that several stadiums would highly benefit from the use of the SGL Concept to help deliver healthy, durable turf for the tournament.

Nico van Vuuren, Managing Director at SGL, is delighted with these projects. "It is an honour to be involved with such an enormous event as the World Cup and to be able to contribute to the pitch quality at the World Cup stadiums."

Spanish colleagues impressed with Real Madrid pitch

As of September 2009 the Bernabeu Stadium of Real Madrid has been using the SGL Concept. Recently SGL hosted an open day for Spanish groundsmen and pitch contractors to get acquainted with the SGL Concept and see the results at Real Madrid.

During this day the ins and outs of the SGL Concept were given and of course the pitch was inspected. All visitors were very impressed with the quality and maintenance level of the pitch. Each and everyone agreed that Paul Burgess, who transferred from Arsenal to Madrid in July 2009, has made a lot of progress in only one year. Some even claimed it was the best pitch they had ever seen in Spain.

Niet alleen Van Gaal succesvol in München

Not only Van Gaal is successful in Munich

The SGL Concept also performed even better than expected in Munich. The close cooperation with Head Groundsman Uwe Lienau resulted in Bayern Munich having one of the best pitches of the Bundesliga this year. Normally the Allianz Arena has to returf several times a year, this returfing was not required, partly because of the SGL Concept.

Masterclass Munich well received

In April the annual SGL Masterclass took place, this time in the Allianz Arena in Munich. Over 30 SGL clients travelled from Australia, the UK, Greece, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands to Munich for a 2 day seminar in which they discussed several pitch management topics and exchanged experiences.

Also because of the excellent hospitality of the Allianz Arena and in particular Uwe Lienau and Stadium Manager Jürgen Muth, the Masterclass was again a great success this year.

Fenerbahce introduces SGL in Turkey

In the Kadiköy district, on the Asian side of Istanbul Turkey, lies the Sükrü Saracoglu Stadium. It is home of Fenerbahçe SK and was the host of the 2009 UEFA Cup final in 2009 between Werder Bremen and Shakhtar Donetsk. The stadium was inaugurated in 1908 and holds a maximum of 55.000 spectators, making it the second largest stadium in Turkey.

The stadium always stood out for many reasons, one being the fact that it does not have a running track, unlike many Turkish stadium, so the fans are very close to the pitch. But since 2010 the Sükrü Saracoglu stadium also stands out because it is the first stadium in Turkey to use the SGL Concept.

After France, the US and South Africa, Turkey is the fourth new county for SGL to work in during the year 2010. Fenerbahçe started this year and the results are already very promising. Together with SGL agronomist Gerard van 't Klooster, Fenerbahçe worked very hard to have the pitch in a good state as soon as possible and they succeeded.

SGL Test Centre

Since the start the SGL Concept has been based on own research and the cooperation with Universities and companies. Since December 2008 SGL has its own Test Centre in Waddinxveen.

This Test Centre is being used to gain more insight, not only in grow light, but also in other growth factors. The past two winters for example we have tested pitch covers under very could winter conditions, with and without undersoil heating.

Furthermore two types of undersoil heating systems have been tested, to gain more insight in them. Finally we are also experimenting with different light levels, including the use of LED lights.

This way SGL continue to look for new ideas and knowledge, bringing us closer to modeling and forecasting the real world.