From the very beginning of the history of football, players played matches in spacious fields with green grass. However, despite the different features of specific stadiums, before the match, the lawn in most cases is made striped. This procedure not only gives the field a beautiful appearance, but also has practical applications.
What does the field cover consist of?
Some believe that the football field has a simple structure and requires virtually no personal care. At the dawn of this sport, it was like this: people grew lawn in stadiums, just mowing it. That is why the footage from old football matches shows how much the quality of the lawn of that time is inferior to the modern one.
Now, football clubs are more responsible in servicing the fields at their stadiums. Coverage consists of several layers that perform specific tasks. The lowest is the level where pipes are placed for heating, supplying the earth with oxygen, as well as for removing excess moisture during rains. Each type of pipe fits into a separate system. Above them is a pillow of crushed stone and sand, which is an even coating. It is on it that the lawn is placed.
Interesting fact: Now the lawn is not grown in stadiums. To green the surface, a dense layer of turf is laid on it, from which grass grows. This allows you to quickly change damaged areas after games.You cannot play more than two matches a week in a stadium with a live lawn, otherwise it will become worthless.
For artificial coating, an additional filler made of rubberized materials is used to give the surface the properties of a real grass.
How to make a lawn striped?
Considering how responsibly the match organizers approach the care of the field, that several layers are created under it, it will not be surprising that they show enough attention to the surface.
According to football rules, the height of the lawn should not exceed more than three and a half centimeters. The grass used as a coating grows fast enough, which is why you have to cut it regularly. To do this, lawnmowers are used, capable of covering a large area at a time, which speeds up the process.
During operation, the lawn mower cuts the grass in strips, moving parallel to the gate, and moves in opposite directions on adjacent lanes. When the lawnmower rides along the surface, it not only cuts the grass above a certain level, but also smooths it along its movement. Thus, on adjacent bands of grass, the blades look in the opposite direction.
If the light hits the stadium at an angle, then on one lane it will shine on the blades of grass, and on the next - at its ends. In the first case, the person will see a light coating, in the second, the tips will cast a shadow, because of which the strip will appear dark. That is why the field seems striped. Also, sometimes a soccer field is cut not in stripes, but in circles, but this method is practically not used because of the complexity.Also, this method of mowing the lawn helps the referees during the match to more accurately determine the place of the foul or fix the offside.
The lawn on the football field becomes striped due to the fact that during mowing the lawn mower moves across the field in parallel lines and crushes the grass in opposite directions.
