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International backing helps hockey fixtures resume at Loughborough University
Posted on 20/03/2008
Loughborough University today (Thursday 20th March 2008) received official confirmation that its refurbished EHB multi-use pitch is suitable for competitive hockey fixtures.
Matches haven’t been played on the pitch since national governing body (NGB) England Hockey announced it was investigating the suitability of the new turf last Autumn.
Following lengthy discussions with the NGB and a series of substantial tests in conjunction with the Federation of International Hockey (FIH), the Polytan Megagrass 2035 synthetic pitch has finally been given the go-ahead to host competitive fixtures with immediate effect.
The multi-use pitch, which was re-laid in August 2007 as part of a scheduled refurbishment, is the next generation of a turf already approved by the FIH and was within pile length guidelines set out by England Hockey in the 2006/07 season. The turf is already approved for competitive football use by international federation FIFA.
The lifting of a lengthy embargo upheld by England Hockey means the University’s eight hockey squads and the eight-plus Loughborough Town teams that call the facility home can resume matches on the EHB pitch straight away.
“We’re delighted England Hockey has recognised the legitimacy of our EHB pitch and we can’t wait to get our teams playing on it again,” said facility manager Tom Neale. “The University undertook substantial research into the compliance of the turf before purchasing it and we were always confident of its suitability.
“Around 10 competitive fixtures a week were held on the pitch at the start of the season so a great number of matches have been affected by this embargo. As a result we had to squeeze all University and Loughborough Town fixtures onto our water-based pitch which saw teams playing from 9am to 9pm on weekends.
“We’re now really looking forward to returning to sensible fixture times for next season and what remains of this one. We’d like to thank everyone for their patience on this matter this year.”