Pitch Perfect

Brits hailed as turf experts as they tend 10 out of 11 Euro football grounds

- Andy Lines

British groundskeepers have left their rivals green with envy, as they are in charge of maintaining 10 of Euro 2020’s 11 pitches.

The UK has been described as the “Silicon Valley of turf ” with our experts being hailed as world leaders.

Ahead of tomorrow’s “Battle of Britain” between auld enemies England and Scotland, we can reveal the nation’s top groundskeepers even have a special WhatsApp group to discuss the football pitches of Europe, from Baku and Budapest to London and Glasgow.

FIFA pitch guru Richard Hayden told the Mirror: “The UK is absolutely at the top of the industry. It really is the Silicon Valley of turf. It is an absolute powerhouse when it comes to groundskeeping.

I go around the world and some clubs in some countries have no problem spending £20million on a player then they moan about paying for an extra bag of grass seed.

“Of the 11 venues for the Euros, there are 10 Brits in charge of the pitches.”

Irishman Hayden is the one non-Brit. He is the author of FIFA’s handbook on pitch maintenance and oversees the sward in St Petersburg, Russia.

He added: “We do have a WhatsApp group which we set up where we share information. It has been very useful.

“The Premier League has really helped us all. The teams realise just how important a quality pitch is to them – it can be like an extra player.”

Karl Standley is in charge of Wembley’s turf, on which tomorrow’s big match will be played. Kick-off, in front of 22,000 fans, is at 8pm.