Desso GrassMaster

Desso GrassMaster is a sports playing field surface composed of natural grass combined with artificial fibres. The artificial grass fibres are injected 20 centimetres (7.9 in) deep, and cover about 3% of the surface. While the grass is growing, the roots intertwine with the artificial fibres. The designers claim this anchors the field to create a solid, even structure with good drainage and 'playing comfort'.

Reinforced natural grass or hybrid grass is used for stadium pitches and training pitches, used for association football, rugby, American football and baseball. Reinforced natural grass can also be used for events and concerts. The artificial turf injection shortens the recovery time for the grass.

The first FIFA World Cup to be played on grass pitches that are partly made up of artificial grass was the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa - the system was installed in the Mbombela Stadium and the Peter Mokaba Stadium. Also the field at Wembley Stadium (UK) is a hybrid grass pitch.

Installations

Stadium	Club/association	Sport	Country
Constant Vanden Stock Stadium	RSC Anderlecht	Association football	Belgium
Daknamstadion	K.S.C. Lokeren	Association football	Belgium
King Power Stadium[1]	Leicester City	Association football	England
Reebok Stadium	Bolton Wanderers	Association football	England
Old Trafford	Manchester United	Association football	England
St James' Park	Newcastle United	Association football	England
Falmer Stadium	Brighton & Hove Albion	Association football	England
Emirates Stadium[2]	Arsenal	Association football	England
Turf Moor	Burnley	Association football	England
Galpharm Stadium	Huddersfield Town and Huddersfield	Association football and Rugby league	England
Anfield	Liverpool	Association football	England
Villa Park	Aston Villa	Association football	England
Leigh Sports Village	Leigh[3]	Rugby league	England
Keepmoat Stadium	Doncaster Rovers and Doncaster	Association football and Rugby league	England
City of Manchester Stadium	Manchester City[4]	Association football	England
White Hart Lane	Tottenham Hotspur	Association football	England
Boleyn Ground	West Ham United	Association football	England
The Hawthorns	West Bromwich Albion	Association football	England
Carrow Road	Norwich City	Association football	England
Stadium:mk	Milton Keynes Dons	Association football	England
Madejski Stadium	Reading and London Irish	Association football and rugby union	England
Adams Park	Wycombe Wanderers and London Wasps	Association football and rugby union	England
Wembley Stadium[5]	England	Association football and other events	England
Aviva Stadium	Ireland national rugby union team and Republic of Ireland national football team	Rugby union and association football	Ireland
Croke Park	Gaelic Athletic Association	Gaelic games	Ireland
Galgenwaard Stadium	Utrecht	Association football	Netherlands
De Koel	VVV-Venlo	Association football	Netherlands
Rat Verlegh	NAC	Association football	Netherlands
Forsyth Barr Stadium[6]	Otago Highlanders	Rugby Union	New Zealand
AZ	AZ Alkmaar	Association football	Netherlands
Lerkendal Stadium	Rosenborg	Association football	Norway
Novator Stadium	Khimki	Association football	Russia
Mbombela Stadium	2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa	Association football	South Africa
Peter Mokaba Stadium	2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa	Association football	South Africa
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium	2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa	Association football	South Africa
Santiago Bernabéu	Real Madrid	Association football	Spain
Sports Authority Field	Denver Broncos	American football	United States
Heinz Field	Pittsburgh Steelers and Pitt Panthers[7]	American football	United States
Lambeau Field	Green Bay Packers	American football	United States
Lincoln Financial Field[8]	Philadelphia Eagles and Temple Owls	American football	United States
Liberty Stadium[9]	Swansea City and Ospreys	Association football and rugby union	Wales
Cardiff City Stadium[10]	Cardiff City and Cardiff Blues	Association football and rugby union	Wales
Easter Road	Hibernian	Association football	Scotland
Volkswagen Arena	VfL Wolfsburg	Association football	Germany
FC Metalist Stadium	FC Metalist	Association football	Ukraine
Donbass Arena	Shaktar Donetsk	Association football	Ukraine
Royal Léopold Uccle FC	Royal Léopold Uccle FC	Association football	Belgium
Central City Stadium	National Team of Kazachstan	Association football	Kazakhstan

Footnotes

1. ^ "Pitch Refurbishment Underway". LCFC (Leicester). http://www.lcfc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10274~2367973,00.html. Retrieved May 2011. 
2. ^ "How Arsenal have put Wembley in the shade". The Times (London). http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/pdfs/sport/surfacetension.pdf. Retrieved April, 2009. 
3. ^ "LSV beats the big freeze!". http://leighsportsvillage.co.uk/news_detail_from_leigh_sports_village.php?news_id=199. Retrieved December 21, 2010. 
4. ^ "Manchester City inaugurates brand new stadium". http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=106750. Retrieved May 17, 2007. 
5. ^ "The Wembley pitch". FATV (London). http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/Wembley/NewsandFeatures/2011/Desso-Installed. Retrieved August 2011. 
6. ^ "Dunedin's hi-tech stadium open for business". tvnz (New Zealand). http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/dunedin-s-hi-tech-stadium-open-business-4339941. Retrieved August, 2011. 
7. ^ Bouchette, Ed (February 3, 2007). "Grass won't be greener (or new)". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07034/759130-66.stm. Retrieved February 3, 2007. 
8. ^ "Even in Pittsburgh, playoffs are mind-over-sloppy-turf-matter games". ESPN. 2008-01-08. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/columns/story?id=3179831. Retrieved 2008-01-25. 
9. ^ Liberty Stadium Pitch - Official Stadium Website
10. ^ Go Desso! - Official Stadium Website

External links

• Desso GrassMaster