FIRST DIVISION STVV CHOOSES ARTIFICIAL PITCH FROM PRODUCER DOMO SPORTS GRASS

2011-04-22

First-division STVV is coming up with a first in Belgian football: the club is having an artificial grass surface laid in its main stadium. An agreement was signed in the Stayen stadium on 26 April 2011 by STVV chairman Roland Duchâtelet and Domo Sports Grass, the market leader in Belgium for high quality artificial grass pitches. So, from next season top division Sint-Truiden will be playing their home matches on Domo VarioSlide S PRO artificial grass.

Roland Duchâtelet had already been arguing in favour of allowing artificial grass pitches for first- and second-division matches for some time. At last the Pro League gave the go-ahead earlier this year. The STVV chairman is now putting his words into action by signing a contract on behalf of STVV with Domo Sports Grass. The Belgian artificial turf producer has built up an enviable reputation worldwide over the past 25 years.

“Laying an artificial grass surface offers numerous advantages. First of all a FIFA 2STAR approved artificial grass surface has the same technical playing properties as an ideal natural grass pitch”, says STVV chairman Roland Duchâtelet. “You can also play the whole year through on an artificial grass surface. Football days can be organised on artificial grass, with in the afternoons women or young people playing and the first-division team in the evening. That isn't possible on a natural grass pitch: it would just be played to ruin. Finally, an artificial grass pitch can be played on in all weather conditions. There are no water logging problems with artificial grass. The water is drained away perfectly so the pitch can always be played on.”

A FIFA 2STAR pitch must meet the strict technical standards imposed by FIFA. The test values are set based on values measured on an ideal natural grass pitch. Domo Sports Grass has already completed various FIFA 2STAR projects with the Domo VarioSlide S PRO grass mat.

The new STVV artificial grass surface will be approved by the European Research Centre for Artificial Turf (ERCAT) at the test centre for artificial grass at the textiles science department of the University of Ghent.

The Domo VarioSlide S PRO artificial pitch is a natural-looking grass mat for which the new Heliflex technology is used. After years of research, Domo Sports Grass has succeeded in applying a controllable spiral form to the monofilament yarns of the grass mat. This gives the pitch excellent resilience. In the erect state the spiral yarns are nicely at rest. As soon as lateral or downward pressure is exerted, the yarn is subjected to tension and wants to spring back upright as soon as possible. Thanks to the Heliflex technology, a sports pitch is achieved on which the grass yarns are always perfectly erect. This means that the ball always rolls or lies on the tips of the artificial grass blades, so the most important playing properties in football, the roll of the ball and getting one’s foot under the ball, are guaranteed. The players have the feeling they are playing on ideal natural grass more than ever.