52
THEWEEK 17 July 2021Ifit’stoosoft,playerswilltiretoo
quickly;ifit’stoohard,theriskof
injuryincreases.Thegrassshould
be 2 4-28mm,cutinstraightlines,
perpendiculartothetouchline.Asaconsultant,FrithwouldbeUefa’s
eyesontheground,monitoringdata
fromStandley,thegroundsman,
aboutthepitch,andoccasionally
conductingindependenttests.
Thegroundskeeper-consultant
relationshipisdelicate.Whereas
groundskeepersareresponsiblefora
site’sdailyupkeep,consultantsflutter
betweenprojects.Somecomparethe
relationshiptothatbetweenabuilder
andanarchitect.Forthemodern
groundskeeper,educatedinplantscience,thiscanbegrating.
Standley,whohaswonnumerousawardsduringhis 15 years
atWembley,initiallydeclinedtobeinterviewedbecausehewas
concernedthisstorywouldfocustooheavilyonconsultants.Standleylikenshisworktoflyingaplane.Hehopesthatthorough
preparationwillallowa“softlanding”onmatchday,butwhen
thereareback-to-backmatches,hewillsleepinahotel nearby,
incaseofunexpected developments.Heisawayfromhis family
alot,butit isasacrifice heiswillingto make.“It’snotajob; it’s
apassion,”hesays.Ifyouwerelookingforsomewhereto placeaworld-classsports
pitch,WembleyStadium wouldbe abad choice.Standleylikensit
to cultivatinggrass inashoebox.Between September and March,
the50-metre-highstands castashadow,meaninglight levels
withinthestadiumrarelyexceed 12micromoles–well belowthe
20 micromolesgrasstypicallyneeds togrow.Airflowat Wembley
isalso poor,said Standley.
Without abreeze,grasswill
eventually keelover anddie.Standleyhassome fancytools
to overcomethesechallenges.He
uses asubsurfaceaerationsystem
to increase moistureandoxygen levelsinthe sand and composites
thatrun 3 0cm belowthe surface,knownasthe “rootzone”.To
encouragegrass seedlingstogrow,he also runshotwaterthrough
underground pipestoraise their temperatureto 17°C.Once the
seedsputoutshoots, herolls outlightingrigsand gargantuanfans
to simulate summerconditions.FortheWembley surfaceto beinpeakconditionfor the
summer,majorworksare neededinwinter.On20 November
2019 ,inpreparation for theEuros,it was time to begin
reconstructing the pitch–replacing 6,000tonnes ofrootzone.
London’sclay-heavy natural soil doesn’t drain well, soateam
of 15worked round the clock forthree weeks to bring insand
from Surrey. Oncethenew turf waslaid,the grasstookaround
11 weekstomature. Then, in March2020, Uefa postponed
the Eurostothe followingsummer. Itwasadisappointment to
Standley,butnot adisaster. In November2020,herenovatedthe
pitchandbegantotestit, sending theresultsto Frith tointerpret
onbehalfof Uefa.From February2021, Frith began travellingto
London to conduct hisown tests.WhenIfirstvisited Standley atWembleyon12May –four weeks
before the Euros,three days before theFACupfinal–the stadium
was almostempty,apartfromStandley’s team of fiveground
staff. With theCupfinal approaching, thepitchwasalready at
matchlength: 24mm. Between games, Standley allows thegrass
to grow as much as possible. His teamthen trimsitdownby
approximately 2mmeachdayfor aweek.(Moresevere cuts can
shock the plant, turning ityellow.)When kick-offis fourdays
away,they mow to maintain it at the samelength, takingoffjustatinyamounteachday.This
constantmowingmakesthepatterns
onthepitchmorepronounced,like
agreenchequerboard.Laterthatmorning,IjoinedFrith
ashetestedthepitch.Armedwith
anassortmentofwhatlookedlike
futuristictorturedevices,hedotted
aroundtheWembleyturf,carefulnot
togetcutdownbyoneoftheeerily
silentelectricmowers.Asexpected,
thepitchwasinexcellentcondition.Itwasn’tuntilIreturnedtwo
weekslater,onthedayofthe
Championshipplay-offfinal,thatI
sensedthejob’smagnitude.When
Iarrivedbeforekick-off,Standleywasvisiblyagitated,hishair
unkempt.WiththewinnersmovinguptothePremierLeague,
thisisEngland’smostlucrativefootballmatch,anditmarkedthe
startofthetrickiestweekendinStandley’scalendar:threematches
back-to-backfromSaturdaytoMonday.Afterthat,hewould
havetwoweekstomakeadjustmentsbeforeEngland’sopening
Eurosgame.At2pm,Standleymetgroundstaffbeforeheadi ngpitchside to
watchthegame.“Despiteallthedata we’re reading,Inowneed
to see proof,” hesaid. Standleywatchesfootballasasetdesigner
watches amovie: the stuffthatis justbackground toothers is
therealfocusofhis attention.“I’mnotwatchingtheplayers;
I’mwatchingtheirbootstouchingthesurface,”headded.ItisonlyafteramatchthatStandleycanbreathe alittle. After the
play-offfinal,he headedtohis officeto unwind with somemusic.
He likeslisteningto artistshe’sseenat Wembley: Coldplay,
Adele, Springsteen. In24 hours,
he wouldneedtodo itallagain,
andthenagaintheday after
that.Asheheadedto hishotel,
he allowedhimself tothink
abouttheEuros;on 1June,
theentire stadiumwould be
revampedwithEuro2 020 branding.“Ithastaken threeyears
to get here,” Standleysaid. “We’vebeenpreparing forthisand
we wantthat soft landing.”Itwas6amwhenStandleyarrivedonsiteforEngland’s first
match,on 13June,butitwasalreadywarm. Hefollowedhis
usualroutine, beginningbywalkingover theplayingsurface. It
calms hisnerves andallowshim tofeel the surface.The forecast
hadanticipatedthe heat,so Standleyknew thatwateringthepitch
was paramount,especially onthenorth side, whichwas exposed
to thesun.When Standleyhadfinished hisinspection, his team
mowedittwice horizontally, to sharpen the patterns that appear
onthepitch,andrepaintedthewhite linestwice. At midday, two
hoursbeforekick-off,they wateredthepitchfor asecondtime.
At 2pm,ayear afterinitiallyplanned, England’s Euro 2020
campaign finally gotunderway. During England’s national
anthem, Standley felt hiseyesfilling with tears,but afterkick-off,
as he watched the ballfizzaround the pitch, hecouldbeginto
relax.The pitchheldupperfectly.Towardsthe endofthe match,Standley joined Frith in thetunnel,
where they watched the final minutes together. They chatted
about Raheem Sterling’s goal, proud oftheir role in it. “I grewup
watching Euro 96,so tobe standing ontheturfat Wembleyfor
Euro 2020issomething Icould haveonlydreamtof,”Standley
said.“Youworkfor days likethese. ButIwasn’t at work,Iwas
livingachildhooddream.”Alonger version of this article appearedin TheGuardian.©2 021
GuardianNews&MediaLtd.Thelast wordJonathan Calderwoodsurveys ParisSaint-Germain’sturf“Thegrassshouldbe24-28mm,
cutinstraightlines,perpendicularto
thetouchline”