Marshalling his troops - Pitchcare

Robbie and Venus
Williams, Madonna and
Maradona, Mick Jagger
and Tyson, R2D2,
Speedway, Monster
Trucks, dinner parties,
exhibitions, conferences,
operas and musicals. The
turf industry has
progressed in recent
years.
Chris Hague guides us
through two years in the
life of Denmark’s
‘Wembley’, the Parken
Stadium, in Copenhagen
Parken Stadium is home to the
Danish National team and FC
Copenhagen. Originally
constructed in 1954, Parken was
redeveloped with the addition of three
new stands, in 1992.
Don’t look back in anger!
The focal point of any stadium is the
pitch. As with many stadium designs, the
pitch in Parken was not considered when
drawing up the plans. The south west
corner of the playing surface receives less
than 45 minutes daylight, even on the
sunniest day of the year.
In 1993, grow lights were positioned
across the playing surface. Growth was
encouraged, but was weak and leggy, and
easily kicked out. Grassmaster fibres were
injected in an attempt to stabilise the
surface in 1994.
In March 1999, I took on the
responsibility of the Parken pitch.
Renovation works in the summer of 1999
were aimed at re-establishing the
grassmaster fibres. A period of six weeks
was allowed from seed. The fibres
stabilised the pitch and the required
surface was produced.
Parken’s calendar already included
72
Denmark’s
many of the world’s top artists, and the
intention was to maximise the stadiums
potential. The pitch is a business and the
events would now provide a challenge to
producing the required surface.
A Song for Europe
Denmark sang their way to Eurovision
Song Contest glory with the Olsen
brothers toe tapping classic “Fly on the
wings of love”. Winners in 2000,
Denmark were duly awarded the hosting
of the 2001 contest, and Parken was the
venue, staging three shows with in excess
of 80,000 in attendance. Terry Wogan
could now be added to the stadium’s
growing celebrity list.
A condition of hosting the event is that
it has to be staged indoors. Parken and
Danish Radio collaborated and a
retractable roof was constructed. A
heating system was included in the
design to enable events to be staged 365
days of the year.
Satisfaction
The introduction of speedway, in 2003,
placed further demands on the playing
surface. Renovations after the speedway
event required total removal of the
decayed plant, and recovery from seed.
Establishment periods reduced as the
events list increased. In 2004, the pitch
was established in less than four weeks
from seed. Simon and Garfunkel staged a
concert on the pitch just twenty-one days
after seeding!
Producing a fibre based pitch was
achievable in the limited time frame.
The required growing-in period,
restricted the options for the events
department. During the establishment,
the pitch was closed and the events
scheduling during the season was
planned to increase.
Whilst the fibres provided us with an
excellent playing surface, it did restrict
the options when considering the diverse
events. Individual areas damaged during
events could not be returfed, as it would
produce an inconsistent playing surface
combined with the fibres. Turfing on top
of the fibres was successfully maintained
on occasions, but we were still restricted
with our surface preparations when
installing turf. Cultivating to aid rooting
was the aim.
In January 2009, the fibres were
removed from the pitch. The works
needed to be completed by February to