Sheep’s Trail

A visible track of straw-coloured grass which often occurs when groundstaff or players walk across a frosty pitch or grass surface. Depending on the extent of the frost – whether superficial and just on the surface of the grass leaves or where it has penetrated into the cells of the grass leaf – the action of walking on frosted turf can crush the plant cells killing them, thereby losing any green colour. This is typically the result of people taking a short cut over a surface and then often being followed by others. Possibly like sheep this is a natural instinct to follow each other without having to spend energy thinking about other options.