What a fabulous night for Sutton United! What a fabulous night for cup football! This was the game of football at its very best – it had everything: a David v Goliath contest, stadium packed to the rafters, intense media coverage and of course the artificial pitch.
For S&C Slatter it was 90 minutes of pure pride. Back in the summer of 2015 we installed the FieldTurf 3G football turf pitch in a fast track programme during the short window between the end game of one season and the first pre-season friendly of the next.
We knew that we had built the club an outstanding example of cutting edge artificial pitch technology. One which would be a catalyst for change at Gander Green Lane; providing a constantly available, consistently high quality playing surface for the first team, while creating a vital new revenue stream and enhanced engagement with the local community.
We did not know however that in the space of just eighteen months the pitch would host a league promotion, England C international and an FA Cup run which saw off AFC Wimbledon, Leeds United and made Arsenal work hard to get the upper hand.
It has been a special journey for all concerned.
Our in-house team of pitch construction specialists including designers, planners, supply chain managers, engineers, contract and project managers are of course used to delivering high quality sports facilities and infrastructure. On performance, on time, on budget.
But usually our work doesn’t receive quite so much attention. That’s fine by us, we’re happy to just go about our business, working with clients in non-league football, independent schools, sports clubs, leisure centres creating new pitches or remodelling existing ones for Football, Hockey, Rugby, Lacrosse, Tennis, Netball, Cricket and Multi-use games.
However, it IS great for the S&C Slatter team to be in the National spotlight for once. Earning acknowledgement and praise for our work from such a universal audience. It IS special when you hear that real football legends like Matt Le Tissier, Paul Merson and Ian Wright reckon you’ve produced a good football pitch.
So, it’s been special, we’ve enjoyed it, and now it’s on to hopefully helping the ‘next Sutton United’ achieve their ambitions. In fact, on Wednesday we hosted a Workshop on 3G Stadium Pitches for non-league football clubs down at Maidstone United – another of our existing stadium pitch clients. Over 25 clubs joined us for another highly successful and enjoyable day of discussion and debate; working through the whole process of converting from natural to artificial grass.
