The summer of planned pitch renovations started back in the middle of April at HTC with appointed contractor, Allgrass Turf Care Ltd, commencing work on two of the Club’s training pitches.
As the season unfolded the works quickly progressed, including an irrigation and drainage upgrade, and before the season finished these pitches had been seeded and had grass coverage.
Following our impressive 4-2 win over Celtic, work started at Easter Road with the necessary materials and machinery being brought in for the renovations. In addition to the improved surface, the Easter Road pitch will also benefit from additional drainage and new irrigation heads, which were installed through the pitch in advance.
After seeing the success of hybrid pitches down south, the Club felt that it was the right time to invest in this process to ensure the best possible surfaces throughout the season.
To complete this work, the Club has been working with SISGrass, with Pitch 1 at HTC and the Easter Road pitch going through the same process of fibres being stitched in to create an identical hybrid surface.
At HTC, once the stitching is complete, the upgraded pitches will be ready for the players’ return on Thursday 22 June, with the Stadium pitch ready in good time for the start of the 2023/24 season and the start of the Club’s European campaign.
The remaining pitches at the Hibernian Training Centre will continue to be treated to allow more intrusive works, which are programmed to commence on Monday 19 June.
Once completed, all six pitches across the two sites will see a significant improvement in quality having gone through the single largest investment in pitches since HTC was constructed in 2007. An investment which will benefit the Club’s coaches and players at every level from First Team right down through the Academy structure.
Hibernian FC’s Chief Executive, Ben Kensell, commented: “Renovating the pitches at Easter Road and HTC has always been at the forefront of our minds and we’ve been delighted we’ve been able to do that this summer, thanks to a significant investment from the Gordon Family.
“The introduction of the hybrid pitches will make a huge difference over the winter months and will help us make Easter Road a real fortress.
“We are constantly trying to move the Club forward and this is another big step in doing that.”