Module 8:

8.2 Planning the usage schedule

1   This can have a significant impact on how much wear takes place and also how much time is available for grass to recover from wear as well. Playing a game in August or September is going to allow the grass to recover that much more quickly than might occur in December to February in particular. This is because soil temperatures and light levels are much better for grass growth in August and September than over the winter period.

  How many games do you think are played on your football pitch over a full playing season (this is typically from August through to April, possibly may in some cases)?

Keep a note of your estimated number of games because you will be able to see how it compares with other figures you will be calculating later on in this module.

2   Games played: What this means is how many adult equivalent full match games are played. The actual amount of wear caused by players of different age groups will vary, and more wear will occur on a moisture retentive pitch than on a dry one. General guidelines that are commonly used are that age groups under 15 years cause about 50% to 75% (although very young players will typically cause even less than these percentage values) damage as that of more senior players (often classed as 15 years plus).

3   To keep things fairly simple we will use the general parameters currently (2026) adopted by Sport England and others which estimate that games with players younger than 16 would cause about one-third less wear (meaning they cause two-thirds of wear) than that of senior users. For example, if a pitch has a carrying capacity of 100 (adult equivalent) games and all usage was by juniors (i.e. less than 16 years of age) then the number of games the pitch could accommodate would be estimated as 150, thereby increasing usage by 50%. (Natural Turf for Sport Updated guidance for 2025, Part B: Playing fields, Sport England, p10).

4   Previous values used by Sport England was that the wear was estimated as 50% less for juniors compared with seniors (Natural Turf for Sport, updated guidance for 2011, Sport England, p19) and similar values quoted in Adams and Gibbs, p238 (Natural Turf for Sport and Amenity: Science and Practice, CABI, 1994, 2004 reprint): Clearly there are a lot of variables influencing wear and actual carrying capacity for a specific pitch.