County provide Glasgow 2014 with ‘Olympic Quality’ Turf

On 9th November 2007, the Commonwealth Games Federation awarded the 2014 Commonwealth Games to Glasgow and Scotland and so began the planning process for delivering the momentous event. The Glasgow team had set themselves quite a challenge to convert the infamous Hampden Park Stadium, traditionally the home of football into a world class athletics venue. In order to gain the width and length required for an IAAF-approved athletics track, the stadium surface had to be raised by almost two metres. To achieve this the team used 6000 structural steel stilts and 1000 base panels to create a temporary deck to support and full track and infield.

The new infield required new turf and having previously supplied the Olympic stadium and other venues for the London 2012 Games, County Turf were approached by the Procurement Management team for the Glasgow 2014 Games to tender for the supply of turf for the infield of Hampden Park, the main stadium, and Lesser Hampden Park, the warm-up facility next to the stadium.

Due to the high profile nature and global TV reach of the event the Procurement Team wanted the turf to be able to withstand not only the rigours of the events taking place on it but also the vagaries of the Scottish weather.  It also goes without saying that given the intense media coverage of the event it was also vital that the surface looked pristine at all times.

And so, in early March 2014 trucks rolled into Glasgow to deliver 6200m2 of Washed Sports Greenscape for Hampden Park and 7100m2 of Sports Greenscape for Lesser Hampden Park.

The laying contractors took 3 days in total to complete the installation of the new turf and a team of skilled groundsmen ensured its establishment and upkeep in readiness for the Games.

Andy Fraser, Managing Director of County Turf said, ‘Once again we are incredibly proud that our turf has been chosen for such a prestigious sporting event. We have all worked very hard to make sure that the turf supplied was of the highest quality.  We would like to thank the Glasgow 2014 team for choosing us.  It was a great pleasure to see it in action as the 2014 Glasgow Games played out on our TV screens.’

To see how Hampden Park Stadium was transformed for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, including the installation of our turf, click here.