// Information
Until recently Football had been played largely on sand-filled, multi-use games surfaces. These non-dedicated surfaces have had a mixed reception from users with stories of hard bounces and fast ball roll. Following the launch of UEFA's Artificial Turf Manual in October 2002, the use of third generation (long pile) soccer grass has dramatically increased, both on a professional and amateur basis. A number of top flight professional clubs in Europe are already using them as their first team match pitches and more recently, Dunfermline Athletic Football Club played their first game on their newly installed pitch.
However, whatever the surface, regular maintenance is still crucial to avoid deterioration of the playing characteristics. Dust, dirt and fibre will contaminate the carpet and cause it to consolidate and harden. This has certainly been the model for sand-filled surfaces over the last 20 years and recent tests on 4 year old, third generation carpet systems bear all the same hallmarks.
Specialist techniques are available to revitalise these types of surface, but better advice would be to introduce a maintenance regime as early as possible after installation.