Upping the grade at Corby Town Football Club

As part of the Rockingham Triangle regeneration project East Midlands’ Blue Square North club, Corby Town FC, was granted funding to construct a new purpose-built ground next to the athletics stadium where the team presently plays.

Part funded by the Football Foundation, the project was led by Corby Borough Council, which approached Total Turf Solutions (TTS) regarding the provision of technical support for the ground’s construction. The brief was to design and specify a natural turf grass pitch to the FA Grade A standard as part of a new stadium development, in addition to monitoring all works in respect of the pitch construction and liaising with other specialists involved in the build of the new stadium.

When designing the pitch a number of factors were taken in to account such as the level of football to be played on the surface, the weekly usage of the pitch and, most importantly, the soil available for the pitch construction which, in this case, was a mixture of clay and clay loam (clay content 35-41%). TTS lead technical consultant, Andy McLeod, says:
“The specification at Corby FC has addressed the soil’s high clay content by ameliorating the profile with sand and gypsum to help improve the surface soil structure; a process that takes a number of months to take effect. Due to the low porosity of the clay, a primary and secondary drainage system was specified which will ensure that the surface will drain in the worst of weather conditions.”

The project commenced in April 2010 and the new pitch was seeded in May 2010. However, work to ensure the pitch becomes fully established is ongoing, as Andy explains:

“The site needed regular irrigation to ensure strong germination and grass growth during a month where there were almost drought conditions. During the initial 12 months, the adventitious grass roots are being established through the soil profile to help improve soil structure and therefore the durability and drainage of the surface. If the pitch is used too quickly the roots will not be mature enough to have the tensile strength required to bind the pitch together which will result in high levels of divotting and wear.”

The final part of the construction - the installation of a sand slit secondary drainage system - is due to be completed in early spring 2011 with the pitch being ready for use during early summer. Corby FC is well on track to reaping the benefits of play on a pitch constructed to FA Grade A standard for the 2011 / 2012 season.

Specific challenges faced by the TTS team during the Corby FC project included:
Due to financial restrictions the indigenous soil (a heavy clay) had to be used for the pitch construction
Providing a specification that would result in a high standard pitch that would not result in increased maintenance costs
There was a considerable level of cut/fill to provide a level formation layer for the pitch construction; this included the removal of a hedge comprised of trees and varied shrubs
Use of heavy clay for the rootzone; this was overcome by amelioration with a sportsfield sand and Gypsum to improve the porosity of the pitch.

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