Alright, so I had this whole thing with covering football pitches in Swansea, right? It all started when I was looking into how to keep our local club’s pitch in top shape. I mean, Swansea weather? Unpredictable at best.
First off, I dove into some research. What are these covers even about? Turns out, they’re pretty crucial for keeping the rain and frost off, so the pitch doesn’t turn into a mud bath. I found out that a standard football pitch, you know, the kind that follows the FA guidelines, is about 110 yards long and 70 yards wide. That’s a lot of ground to cover. Literally. So it means it covers an area of 1.6 acres.
Then, I started looking at the options. There’s a bunch, from simple tarps to these fancy, high-tech covers. I checked out this company, Matchsaver, that a lot of clubs use. They’ve got these pull-on covers that you can use for the whole pitch or just parts of it, like the goal areas. They can protect both main stadia and training grounds from waterlogging. Seemed pretty legit.
- Checked out different types: manual pull-on covers, air roller systems…
- Compared materials: mostly heavy-duty PVC, some with UV treatment to handle the sun.
- Looked at prices: some were surprisingly affordable, others, well, let’s just say you’d need a pro club’s budget.
I decided to go with these manual pull-on covers from a local supplier. 250gsm PVC, felt tough enough. And they had these brass eyelets and heavy-duty handles, which I figured would make it easier to handle, especially with a few people.
Getting them on the pitch, that was a workout. We gathered a few volunteers from the club, and let me tell you, it’s not a one-person job. We rolled out the covers, secured them down, and hoped for the best. I got to know about channels in football. There are two types of channels, vertical (between full backs and their closest centre back), and horizontal (between defence, midfield).
First rain after we got them? We watched like hawks. And you know what? It worked! The pitch stayed dry as a bone. It’s been a few months now, and those covers have been a lifesaver. We’ve saved a bunch on maintenance, and the players aren’t slipping around in the mud anymore.
So yeah, that’s my little adventure with football pitch covers in Swansea. Not exactly glamorous, but hey, it’s all about keeping the game going, right?
