BRUM IS BLUE!

It’s that quiet bit of the year, it’s before the International calendars main event, so I thought I’d have a quick look at the new stadium as there was a bit of supporter feedback recently and a new YouTube look at it.

I don’t know if I’ve actually commented on the designs itself, personally I really love it and it will definitely become iconic quickly. I just hope the team can give it the props it deserves. I’m not really going to discuss that aspect of things here because it’s already been done elsewhere, instead what I want to focus on is the retractable pitch.

Due to the ambitions of creating a stadium that can generate revenue it needs to be a multi-purpose stadium, I have no qualms with this personally given the way FFP dictates things these days clubs all need multi-revenue avenues simply because of the ludicrous figures banded about in football. Blues are setting themselves up to be able to spend going forward but in football we know losses are the standard practice which is clearly unsustainable so I think FFP (And other similar restrictions) certainly have a place in football but that perhaps it is being applied too heavily, there should be a way for owners with the money to be able to put this into the clubs they own assuming that they will not have detrimental effects on the club itself (So basically if you’re going to put money in to cover losses or fund transfer windows it cannot be in the form of loans that will push the clubs into a negative bank balance laddered with debt with an expectation to recoup these losses when selling the club etc).

Anyway, I digress there. It’s simply the background of why clubs require alternative revenue streams these days, I understand it, I agree with it in theory and so I have no problem with the multi-purpose venue is basically what I’m getting at. What does concern me is the retractable pitch, especially with our injury record last season. I know it’s a problem for the future at the moment but I just hope that the potential link to injuries is being looked at as they plan this retractable pitch.

If you don’t know, there is a slight link between retractable pitches and potential for increased injuries. It’s not proven yet and surely could end up being coincidental but I do think it is something we should bare in mind. We don’t want to rise up the ranks only to be hindered on the pitch as we look to secure revenue (In a bid to push further into football elite over the next 5-10 years). Clubs that seem to confirm this is an issue are the likes of Tottenham Hotspurs and Real Madrid, both clubs have struggled with injuries and the common denominator with them both is the retractable pitch. Even FC Schalke 04 seem to have suffered injuries but this didn’t derail their promotion.

What therefore is the link? So, while it is not yet confirmed (And I’m sure there will be further research on the matter) there is a suggestion that the retractable pitches causes a higher rate of ligament issues, specifically ACL injuries. The reason for this is supposed to be due to the depth of the grass roots, the depth of the turf and a more compact, harsher upper layer due to a shallower depth. These create increased tension in legs when turning and can contribute to higher injuries when a foot is caught in the grass for instance.

The technical information I can glean is traditional pitches have grass fields that utilize up to 30cm of soil over a loose gravel base while retractable pitches use “a much thinner profile” (And further investigation seems to only clarify up to a degree by saying it is only “a few centimetres”) which can become compact. The roots also play an impact as I’ve said but this seems to mostly impact the compactness of it from what I can see, so they’re all really the same issue; there isn’t enough depth in the soil.

My rudimentary brain instantly came up with the solution that would solve all the problems, make the retractable pitch have a deeper soil depth. Boom! Problem solved, patent and make millions, it’s the get rich scheme I never knew I could get on! Of course… that doesn’t work. Soil is heavy (From what I can see) and increasing the depth substantially increases the weight on the things that hold and move the pitch (Starting to think even if increasing the soil depth was the solution I’d have a few more technical problems along the way) which basically becomes unsustainable, unworkable and is why they only use a thin layer of soil in the first place.

With this in mind then you do hope that they have taken these recent revelations into consideration. Personally I’d feel that the additional revenue shouldn’t be seen as a reason to disregard the impacts on the pitch, not just because it should be the football club that they’re investing in with these side revenues feeding the club and not the end game, but also because it seems highly likely the correlation suggests a causation so it’s unlikely something like this would just go away in this day and age of player welfare. I suspect that when more clubs install these pitches (As more clearly are) and the data proves that the pitch is creating a higher injury rate amongst player, this will have a career knock on so you would surely suspect therefore that players will come back to the clubs on the issue for financial compensation.

As I say, ultimately it is a problem for the future but it certainly needs to be looked into and in the back of the minds of the owners as we embark on this significant change for not just the club but the city as well! I can’t wait to be sat in the Powerhouse Stadium watching Blues face the best in the world!