1 00:00:02,656 --> 00:00:04,998 KARL STANDLEY: If players enjoy playing on that piece of grass 2 00:00:05,078 --> 00:00:07,579 out there and they feel that they can perform at the highest 3 00:00:07,619 --> 00:00:10,581 level and when they do that and they score and they knee slide, 4 00:00:10,601 --> 00:00:13,483 for me it wraps all as one. We've just made a moment. 5 00:00:22,849 --> 00:00:25,691 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Tonight the first whistle blows on the 2026 6 00:00:25,871 --> 00:00:29,545 FIFA Men's World Cup. Around the world, flags are flying, 7 00:00:29,805 --> 00:00:32,786 sweepstakes have been drawn and fans are gathering to watch the 8 00:00:32,806 --> 00:00:36,207 game's greatest players battle it out on football's grandest 9 00:00:36,247 --> 00:00:40,209 stage. But beneath every pass, tackle and goal lies something 10 00:00:40,229 --> 00:00:44,451 we rarely think about. The pitch itself. That perfect grassy 11 00:00:44,511 --> 00:00:47,632 green surface doesn't just host the game, it can shape how it's 12 00:00:47,672 --> 00:00:48,112 played. 13 00:00:49,413 --> 00:00:53,414 I'm Rosie Holdsworth, Ranger at the National Trust. Welcome to 14 00:00:53,454 --> 00:00:56,936 Wild Tales and the story of what makes a pitch perfect. 15 00:01:03,391 --> 00:01:07,593 Today we're at Wembley Stadium, the home of the England's men's 16 00:01:07,613 --> 00:01:10,674 and women's national football teams, to meet Carl Stanley, 17 00:01:11,134 --> 00:01:13,635 Wembley's Head Of Grounds and Surface Transitions. 18 00:01:14,856 --> 00:01:17,997 KARL STANDLEY: In short terms, my job is to maintain and 19 00:01:18,037 --> 00:01:20,759 deliver probably one of the world's most famous and iconic 20 00:01:20,819 --> 00:01:23,720 pieces of grass, which is the hallowed turf of Wembley. 21 00:01:24,064 --> 00:01:26,225 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: And Wembley's world-famous pitch has become 22 00:01:26,245 --> 00:01:28,906 the example that the North American grounds teams are 23 00:01:29,006 --> 00:01:31,407 striving to emulate for this year's World Cup. 24 00:01:36,949 --> 00:01:39,130 KARL STANDLEY: The World Cup pitches, they've gone from what 25 00:01:39,170 --> 00:01:43,072 are NFL surfaces, whether it is the guys who are in LA and 26 00:01:43,312 --> 00:01:45,853 they're putting grass into a stadium that has a roof on it. I 27 00:01:45,873 --> 00:01:48,934 mean, and Dallas Cowboys, the exact same. The stadiums are 28 00:01:48,935 --> 00:01:52,016 being adapted like no one would believe. They're all being grown 29 00:01:52,096 --> 00:01:52,676 off site. 30 00:01:58,472 --> 00:02:00,834 The pitches, a lot of them are being raised up in the air, 31 00:02:01,174 --> 00:02:04,437 again because they're on full construction so they're looking 32 00:02:04,438 --> 00:02:06,940 at everything we have here at Wembley. They're looking at the 33 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,683 drainage, they're looking at the aeration system underneath it, 34 00:02:10,843 --> 00:02:12,905 an in-situ irrigation system. 35 00:02:13,445 --> 00:02:17,369 The American grounds industry is just pushing and striving 36 00:02:17,569 --> 00:02:19,751 incredibly at the moment and we've had a fair few of them 37 00:02:19,851 --> 00:02:22,373 come over and see, like how we're installing and working 38 00:02:22,374 --> 00:02:24,355 with grass under sort of strict conditions. 39 00:02:26,497 --> 00:02:29,019 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Standing pitch side, the grass looks flawless, 40 00:02:29,359 --> 00:02:32,662 lush and meticulously maintained. But there's quite a 41 00:02:32,682 --> 00:02:35,564 complexity to football pitches that I didn't expect. 42 00:02:37,245 --> 00:02:39,227 KARL STANDLEY: A lot of the Premier League teams and their 43 00:02:39,287 --> 00:02:42,570 pitches are very much the same. A lot of them are injected with 44 00:02:42,670 --> 00:02:46,333 artificial fibres. It's called a hybrid system. They're winter 45 00:02:46,673 --> 00:02:49,976 sports pitches. So they're grown predominantly of sand. 46 00:02:50,892 --> 00:02:54,774 If you don't have that stitch in the pitch, it would give way. So 47 00:02:54,814 --> 00:02:58,275 imagine going to the beach and going at the top of the beach 48 00:02:58,355 --> 00:03:01,456 where the wind's blowing and the sand is dry. It's loose 49 00:03:01,476 --> 00:03:05,598 underfoot. That's why we have plastic fibre injected into 50 00:03:05,618 --> 00:03:06,258 those pitches. 51 00:03:06,679 --> 00:03:08,840 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: And Wembley is even more complex. 52 00:03:09,300 --> 00:03:11,341 KARL STANDLEY: Now, this model at Wembley is a little bit 53 00:03:11,361 --> 00:03:14,462 different. We have it in a carpet form, which means we can 54 00:03:14,502 --> 00:03:17,743 go from concert to football in two and a half days. This is 55 00:03:17,783 --> 00:03:21,297 English football at its best. And with that, Wembley plays a 56 00:03:21,317 --> 00:03:24,860 huge part because when we have Taylor Swift, the profit that 57 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,882 this company makes goes back into grassroots. 58 00:03:28,462 --> 00:03:31,024 If we have a stitched model, like I was mentioning a lot of 59 00:03:31,025 --> 00:03:34,927 the Premier League have, you have to have a summer renovation 60 00:03:35,027 --> 00:03:38,410 window where you take out the old pitch and then you refresh, 61 00:03:38,430 --> 00:03:41,392 you replenish with sand, and then you put your seed in and 62 00:03:41,393 --> 00:03:44,434 then you go, right, I've got the first game in six to seven 63 00:03:44,494 --> 00:03:44,814 weeks. 64 00:03:44,934 --> 00:03:49,298 So you grow it in. With Wembley. We have a lay and play system, 65 00:03:49,378 --> 00:03:52,700 so our pitches are grown off-site at the turf farm. It's 66 00:03:52,701 --> 00:03:56,043 a secret location away from here. These pitches are 67 00:03:56,163 --> 00:03:59,466 harvested at the turf farm late at night, midnight, 1, 2 in the 68 00:03:59,486 --> 00:04:01,327 morning, when it's the coolest and less stressful. 69 00:04:01,968 --> 00:04:05,230 Concerts are in. They've killed all the pitch, the previous 70 00:04:05,290 --> 00:04:08,753 pitch. The staging's gone out, the flooring's come off. That's 71 00:04:08,793 --> 00:04:11,435 where then it goes into recycling. And then we have the 72 00:04:11,455 --> 00:04:14,698 brand new pitch laid out over two days. Within the third day, 73 00:04:14,898 --> 00:04:17,040 you could play football in it. No downtime. 74 00:04:20,696 --> 00:04:23,478 There was a moment last year when we had our pitch coming out 75 00:04:23,518 --> 00:04:27,580 down here and we had Oasis' stage still here, the cranes, 76 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,562 the arctic trucks, the thousands of tons of steel work still 77 00:04:31,602 --> 00:04:32,263 being removed. 78 00:04:32,823 --> 00:04:36,345 The following day the first lot of turf went down so 400 odd 79 00:04:36,385 --> 00:04:39,867 rolls, second day 400 rolls, that evening we rolled it, 80 00:04:39,967 --> 00:04:43,269 nutrients, started to prep it. The following day you could have 81 00:04:43,270 --> 00:04:45,510 played football at a 7.30 kickoff and no one would have 82 00:04:45,511 --> 00:04:48,152 known that four days ago you had Oasis in the building. 83 00:04:51,396 --> 00:04:53,321 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: The logistical precision that's needed to 84 00:04:53,362 --> 00:04:55,869 enable the stadium to flick between concerts and 85 00:04:55,889 --> 00:04:59,519 championships is astounding and that precision runs through 86 00:04:59,679 --> 00:05:02,861 every aspect of maintaining this iconic carpet of grass. 87 00:05:03,741 --> 00:05:05,261 KARL STANDLEY: We've got equipment that we bring out, we 88 00:05:05,281 --> 00:05:08,262 drop a Clegg hammer onto the pitch to see the hardness. So 89 00:05:08,302 --> 00:05:10,403 again, what energy the player will bring back through their 90 00:05:10,443 --> 00:05:13,904 body. We have instruments that are then tracking the rotational 91 00:05:13,924 --> 00:05:16,365 resistance, so at what point would the pitch give way. 92 00:05:16,685 --> 00:05:20,886 We'll take measurements. When we track all the areas that we're 93 00:05:20,906 --> 00:05:24,247 testing, it's going straight onto an iPad. That will then 94 00:05:24,327 --> 00:05:27,088 give us a heat map at the end of that test about everything think 95 00:05:27,108 --> 00:05:28,088 about the playing surface. 96 00:05:28,088 --> 00:05:32,449 So, for instance, the size of our stadium, we are six months 97 00:05:32,549 --> 00:05:36,850 in shade. Grass needs sunlight to grow. So when the sun comes 98 00:05:36,910 --> 00:05:41,592 over the stadium's roof around about March time, the north side 99 00:05:41,612 --> 00:05:44,993 where we are now, by the players tunnel, is in natural light. 100 00:05:45,453 --> 00:05:48,073 The rest of it's being grown artificially. The south side 101 00:05:48,093 --> 00:05:49,954 will then start playing differently to the north side. 102 00:05:50,074 --> 00:05:52,815 So again, these heat maps then almost track what we're doing 103 00:05:52,816 --> 00:05:55,616 with the playing surface, but also what nature is allowing it 104 00:05:55,636 --> 00:05:57,116 to do at its own rate as well. 105 00:05:59,084 --> 00:06:00,725 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: The condition of the playing surface can 106 00:06:00,845 --> 00:06:04,228 fundamentally shape the way football is played. Grass 107 00:06:04,308 --> 00:06:08,091 length, the consistency of the cut and levels of watering all 108 00:06:08,131 --> 00:06:11,234 influence how the ball travels and how players move across the 109 00:06:11,254 --> 00:06:11,574 pitch. 110 00:06:13,776 --> 00:06:15,477 KARL STANDLEY: The condition that we like to deliver every 111 00:06:15,517 --> 00:06:20,281 game at Wembley is slick and fast. So for FA Cup final, for 112 00:06:20,862 --> 00:06:24,365 Champions League, for semi-finals, women's, men's, 113 00:06:24,385 --> 00:06:28,388 internationals, 22 millimetres is normally what we'll play at. 114 00:06:29,076 --> 00:06:31,838 You'll then see sprinklers on the pitch pop up when players 115 00:06:32,018 --> 00:06:32,738 are arriving. 116 00:06:33,038 --> 00:06:35,459 We'll normally do like a two millimetre drop of water to 117 00:06:35,580 --> 00:06:38,861 slicken the leaf up and then we'll put another piece of water 118 00:06:39,001 --> 00:06:42,383 on after warm-ups. So the players have played, shall we 119 00:06:42,443 --> 00:06:46,165 say, or trained in a match condition at warm-ups. That 120 00:06:46,245 --> 00:06:49,707 water sometimes evaporates so we add a little bit more water 121 00:06:49,907 --> 00:06:53,189 after warm-ups. That will get us through the first half into 122 00:06:53,249 --> 00:06:53,729 half-time. 123 00:06:54,250 --> 00:06:56,831 More sprinklers go up and what we're doing is we're trying to 124 00:06:56,851 --> 00:06:59,472 keep moisture retention there on the leaf. Think of it as 125 00:06:59,552 --> 00:07:03,333 friction. When the ball is spinning, if the grass is longer 126 00:07:03,414 --> 00:07:06,895 and it's dry, it will hold up in the grass ward. Whereas when we 127 00:07:06,995 --> 00:07:10,456 add water to it, it reduces the traction and the friction and 128 00:07:10,457 --> 00:07:11,796 actually makes the ball spin quicker. 129 00:07:16,618 --> 00:07:22,440 We have millionaire players, in billionaire teams, playing on 130 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:22,940 that. 131 00:07:24,408 --> 00:07:29,012 The fear and risk of injury is so high in these teams. So when 132 00:07:29,032 --> 00:07:32,054 you look at the pitch, our objective as a ground team is to 133 00:07:32,374 --> 00:07:36,398 allow the player to play at the best of their performance. They 134 00:07:36,478 --> 00:07:40,141 don't walk onto the pitch, give it a kick and go, it's going to 135 00:07:40,142 --> 00:07:40,921 be a tough game today. 136 00:07:41,882 --> 00:07:45,245 It doesn't feel safe. So that's why the pitch is very important 137 00:07:45,265 --> 00:07:48,567 that we always say, is it safe? Is it playable? Are the two 138 00:07:48,648 --> 00:07:50,549 things we always have an objective for. 139 00:07:51,750 --> 00:07:55,857 Is it stripy and green? Is the third. Aesthetics is very 140 00:07:55,937 --> 00:07:58,879 important, of course. It's probably more important for 141 00:07:58,919 --> 00:08:02,381 people watching it at home, for broadcast, for the brand as 142 00:08:02,401 --> 00:08:03,642 Wembley stadium in the FA. 143 00:08:06,004 --> 00:08:07,925 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: But could the clubs be strategic with the 144 00:08:07,945 --> 00:08:10,927 pitch maintenance to play to their team's strengths and 145 00:08:10,947 --> 00:08:12,268 against their opponents? 146 00:08:14,150 --> 00:08:16,671 KARL STANDLEY: Yes, you could have it longer. It could slow 147 00:08:16,672 --> 00:08:20,078 the ball down. If you had a very quick moving team in your 148 00:08:20,338 --> 00:08:23,020 stadium and you were the home team and you wanted to slow the 149 00:08:23,041 --> 00:08:25,382 game down and cause them problems, yeah, you could do. 150 00:08:25,963 --> 00:08:28,785 But the Premier League are very, very tight. Every pitch should 151 00:08:28,786 --> 00:08:31,748 be consistent and also it's player safety. That's why we 152 00:08:31,768 --> 00:08:32,769 take so much data. 153 00:08:34,290 --> 00:08:36,472 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: So I really love grass. I'm a bit of a grass 154 00:08:36,592 --> 00:08:39,914 nerd and many people don't realise that grass isn't just 155 00:08:39,955 --> 00:08:43,077 grass. There's multiple different species. Some of the 156 00:08:43,097 --> 00:08:45,839 things that look like grass aren't actually grass and some 157 00:08:45,859 --> 00:08:48,602 of them have. really cool flowering plants hiding in there 158 00:08:48,603 --> 00:08:48,982 as well. 159 00:08:49,442 --> 00:08:51,904 And what's happening on the surface can tell you a lot about 160 00:08:51,924 --> 00:08:55,507 what's going on in the soils and how healthy an ecosystem is. So 161 00:08:55,547 --> 00:08:58,289 I'm really interested to know exactly what's happening under 162 00:08:58,309 --> 00:08:58,770 our feet. 163 00:09:00,011 --> 00:09:03,474 KARL STANDLEY: It's a European ryegrass, cold season grass. So 164 00:09:03,554 --> 00:09:08,157 anything over six degrees, it will start to grow. Anything 165 00:09:08,197 --> 00:09:10,259 under six degrees, it will stunt and slow. 166 00:09:10,740 --> 00:09:14,262 But then with it, if we have any weather that's over, say, 30 167 00:09:14,322 --> 00:09:18,121 degrees, high humidity, The energy in the plant, the cell 168 00:09:18,221 --> 00:09:20,783 structure, everything with a piece of grass is natural. We'll 169 00:09:20,803 --> 00:09:23,405 then start to go, this is too much for me, and then we start 170 00:09:23,425 --> 00:09:26,247 having concerns with the pitch. It overwhelms it, shall we say. 171 00:09:27,108 --> 00:09:29,349 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Because the grass contains artificial fibres 172 00:09:29,409 --> 00:09:32,792 woven into it, recycling the pitch is a complex challenge. 173 00:09:33,312 --> 00:09:36,675 Wembley currently repurposes used pitches into merchandise 174 00:09:36,775 --> 00:09:40,137 such as key rings and even furniture, including the bench 175 00:09:40,237 --> 00:09:43,539 beside the players' tunnel. But their drive to innovate hasn't 176 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:44,060 stopped there. 177 00:09:46,644 --> 00:09:48,486 KARL STANDLEY: Now the cool bit here is where we're down the 178 00:09:48,506 --> 00:09:53,352 West End, this area here is new technology. It's the first part 179 00:09:53,392 --> 00:09:56,636 which we understand to be in Europe. But the idea of this bit 180 00:09:56,856 --> 00:09:58,899 is we can't really go into too much detail, but it's made of 181 00:09:58,919 --> 00:10:01,941 certain ingredients. We'll allow it to biodegrade when we remove 182 00:10:02,001 --> 00:10:06,924 it and over three years it will be a biodegradable material. So 183 00:10:07,344 --> 00:10:08,965 this is a new trial we have here at Wembley. 184 00:10:09,585 --> 00:10:13,687 From the white line onwards is our normal playing surface. So 185 00:10:14,048 --> 00:10:16,769 when we talk about the grass, it has to be hard wearing because 186 00:10:16,829 --> 00:10:19,771 players are going to warm up, slip, slide, move around. 187 00:10:19,851 --> 00:10:23,232 They're going to leaf tear. The grass has to regenerate. It's 188 00:10:23,293 --> 00:10:26,694 also this type of speck of grass because of the harvesting, the 189 00:10:26,794 --> 00:10:30,393 install and the stresses that we put our pitch through before a 190 00:10:30,433 --> 00:10:31,834 player has even played on it. 191 00:10:35,077 --> 00:10:37,900 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: And what about those sliding players? After all 192 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:41,143 the work that goes into creating such an immaculate pitch, it 193 00:10:41,203 --> 00:10:42,464 can't be easy to watch. 194 00:10:43,285 --> 00:10:45,628 KARL STANDLEY: If players enjoy playing on that piece of grass 195 00:10:45,708 --> 00:10:48,210 out there and they feel that they can perform at the highest 196 00:10:48,250 --> 00:10:51,213 level and when they do that and they score and they knee slide, 197 00:10:51,233 --> 00:10:53,996 for me it wraps all as one. We've just made a moment. 198 00:10:54,364 --> 00:10:57,346 And Carvajal, who is a Real Madrid player, scored in the 199 00:10:57,366 --> 00:11:00,288 recent Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund. And 200 00:11:00,328 --> 00:11:03,130 he slid right in this corner in front of us. And there was a 201 00:11:03,150 --> 00:11:05,492 nice slickness on the surface because we had watered the pitch 202 00:11:05,552 --> 00:11:09,134 previously. And he slid for like 10 metres. Next thing you know, 203 00:11:09,334 --> 00:11:11,616 all the players are now sliding in behind. 204 00:11:12,076 --> 00:11:16,019 And for days, because he had slid so hard, he hadn't ripped 205 00:11:16,079 --> 00:11:18,721 any of the grass. What he had done is he had pushed the grass 206 00:11:18,881 --> 00:11:22,543 in, so it was like memory, like laying flat. So for like four 207 00:11:22,603 --> 00:11:25,949 days after. There are these knee slides that we could not get rid 208 00:11:25,989 --> 00:11:26,929 of. That's history. 209 00:11:30,411 --> 00:11:32,472 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: So knee slides are the least of Wembley's 210 00:11:32,492 --> 00:11:35,113 worries. Another challenge though, one we're all 211 00:11:35,153 --> 00:11:37,134 experiencing, is climate change. 212 00:11:38,234 --> 00:11:41,756 High temperatures, torrential rain, cold snaps and heat waves. 213 00:11:42,196 --> 00:11:44,997 Changing weather patterns are putting grass under increasing 214 00:11:45,037 --> 00:11:48,979 pressure. So how is Wembley ensuring its world-famous pitch 215 00:11:49,139 --> 00:11:51,560 can cope with the demands of a changing climate? 216 00:11:53,336 --> 00:11:55,378 KARL STANDLEY: We feel it in the stadium because this is a giant 217 00:11:55,438 --> 00:11:58,882 concrete bowl as well. In the summer, it's an oven. In the 218 00:11:58,902 --> 00:12:02,706 winter, it's a freezer. The pitch, some days you can leave 219 00:12:02,707 --> 00:12:05,368 it in the most pristine condition. You come in the 220 00:12:05,369 --> 00:12:09,773 following day and you're like, what's happened overnight? A 221 00:12:09,813 --> 00:12:13,877 drizzle in the stadium, 24 degrees. Right, that's going to 222 00:12:13,897 --> 00:12:16,740 get the disease spores to then activate. 223 00:12:17,752 --> 00:12:20,894 And then suddenly we get grass diseases, looking at fungicides, 224 00:12:20,895 --> 00:12:23,996 looking at herbicides. Like, we're trying to come away from 225 00:12:24,036 --> 00:12:26,238 that. And one thing with Wembley, we're trying to use 226 00:12:26,258 --> 00:12:29,020 more sustainable methods and more cultural processes to then 227 00:12:29,060 --> 00:12:32,402 eliminate any risk of disease. But that is also massively 228 00:12:32,522 --> 00:12:33,743 linked to climate change. 229 00:12:34,664 --> 00:12:37,126 So we're having to now use technology, which you would 230 00:12:37,166 --> 00:12:42,109 weirdly find in a hospital, and a surgeon would use to then 231 00:12:42,229 --> 00:12:45,412 cleanse the scalpels and the instruments they were to use for 232 00:12:45,452 --> 00:12:49,066 surgery. So we're now looking at things like using UVC light to 233 00:12:49,086 --> 00:12:53,369 then disperse the spores of disease on the pitch. So there's 234 00:12:53,409 --> 00:12:56,751 quite some interesting links, but it all goes back to global 235 00:12:56,791 --> 00:12:57,092 warming. 236 00:12:57,692 --> 00:12:59,593 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Wembley's innovation doesn't stop there. 237 00:13:00,234 --> 00:13:04,156 Using UVC light to tackle grass disease is a remarkable example 238 00:13:04,196 --> 00:13:08,219 of how technology is reshaping modern groundskeeping. So I 239 00:13:08,239 --> 00:13:10,941 wanted to see some of the specialist equipment responsible 240 00:13:10,961 --> 00:13:13,823 for keeping this iconic turf in perfect condition. 241 00:13:15,564 --> 00:13:17,866 And where better to start than with robots? 242 00:13:18,687 --> 00:13:20,989 KARL STANDLEY: So this is the robot. So this is working on the 243 00:13:21,029 --> 00:13:24,351 pitch delivering ultraviolet light which then tries to 244 00:13:24,371 --> 00:13:28,275 eradicate pathogens and disease. It uses the same technology as a 245 00:13:28,315 --> 00:13:31,718 lidar which is a Tesla for instance, how they self-drive. 246 00:13:32,358 --> 00:13:35,661 And then it will use that to then work itself up and down the 247 00:13:35,662 --> 00:13:39,004 playing surface on a dot map. Its nickname is Betty. 248 00:13:40,396 --> 00:13:43,199 This is a tractor rake and this is what we would then drag 249 00:13:43,239 --> 00:13:45,901 across the pitch like you would a hand rake in your back garden 250 00:13:45,941 --> 00:13:49,524 it then lifts up any organic any leaf material and they would 251 00:13:49,525 --> 00:13:52,547 have small machines that go over and hoover up any of the organic 252 00:13:52,607 --> 00:13:55,669 and leaf out and it just keeps the pitch as healthy as 253 00:13:55,709 --> 00:13:56,170 possible. 254 00:13:57,131 --> 00:13:59,212 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Like most people my first impression of a 255 00:13:59,232 --> 00:14:02,255 football pitch was the immaculate mowing patterns and I 256 00:14:02,375 --> 00:14:05,098 soon discovered the mowers themselves were just as 257 00:14:05,118 --> 00:14:08,720 impressive. In my role as a Ranger we have our own 258 00:14:08,901 --> 00:14:12,002 specialist mowing equipment, but it's very, very different to 259 00:14:12,042 --> 00:14:15,864 this. Ours is for managing habitats and reducing fire risk 260 00:14:15,885 --> 00:14:18,686 on the moors. So it's a very different set of machinery, but 261 00:14:18,726 --> 00:14:19,326 just as cool. 262 00:14:20,767 --> 00:14:22,668 KARL STANDLEY: These mowers in front of you, yes, they are 263 00:14:22,828 --> 00:14:25,630 elite mowers. And the blades on the front, they're an eight 264 00:14:25,670 --> 00:14:29,592 blade cassette. And those blades are spinning at a ridiculous 265 00:14:29,632 --> 00:14:32,774 amount of RPM. And when they go through the grass, you'll see 266 00:14:32,775 --> 00:14:35,536 this machine in front of you. You've got like a roller with 267 00:14:35,576 --> 00:14:39,146 grooves in, that brings the grass together. The bristles 268 00:14:39,186 --> 00:14:41,828 behind then stand the leaf up because sometimes grass doesn't 269 00:14:41,888 --> 00:14:45,190 always go straight up, it will go at an angle. It then grooms 270 00:14:45,230 --> 00:14:48,652 the grass to then be cut by that red cassette. Think of it as a 271 00:14:48,692 --> 00:14:52,655 scissor, the bottom blade and the cylinder connect and cut the 272 00:14:52,675 --> 00:14:53,095 grass. 273 00:14:53,576 --> 00:14:56,738 It then flips the grass through the cassette and then on the 274 00:14:56,758 --> 00:14:58,899 front of here is normally a grass collector, a bucket should 275 00:14:58,900 --> 00:15:03,530 we say. Now those blades have to be as sharp as possible. So if 276 00:15:03,531 --> 00:15:06,051 we get a poor cut on the grass, it will recover poorly. 277 00:15:06,191 --> 00:15:09,272 If we get a very sharp and clean cut, you've not ripped any of 278 00:15:09,273 --> 00:15:12,374 the grass and that will allow better recovery and a healthier 279 00:15:12,414 --> 00:15:15,516 grass plant. A healthier grass plant, potentially the more 280 00:15:15,536 --> 00:15:17,777 games we can have, the more games we have, the more revenue 281 00:15:17,778 --> 00:15:20,638 we make, the more we put back into grassroots. And it's just 282 00:15:20,778 --> 00:15:23,000 keeping that natural grass as healthy as possible. 283 00:15:24,812 --> 00:15:26,933 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: As we headed back onto the pitch we could see 284 00:15:26,953 --> 00:15:29,835 the grounds team looking very busy with what looked like a 285 00:15:29,895 --> 00:15:31,936 heavy duty oversized lawnmower. 286 00:15:34,458 --> 00:15:35,938 KARL STANDLEY: So what they're doing is they're aerating with 287 00:15:35,939 --> 00:15:38,920 these giant great tines so when we're actually putting the holes 288 00:15:38,921 --> 00:15:41,422 in the ground we were leaving the compaction but at the same 289 00:15:41,462 --> 00:15:45,224 time we're allowing oxygen to get into the roots for the roots 290 00:15:45,225 --> 00:15:48,686 to take the oxygen in. Where there is space grass will grow. 291 00:15:49,286 --> 00:15:52,860 So you imagine a tine going through there these roots are 292 00:15:52,861 --> 00:15:55,121 then going to find that space and they're going to grow into 293 00:15:55,161 --> 00:15:57,843 those cracks that we've made. So again that's how we get our 294 00:15:57,903 --> 00:16:01,025 roots to penetrate down past the carpet that's underneath this, a 295 00:16:01,045 --> 00:16:04,027 small amount of carpet, into the sand so that's where they're 296 00:16:04,028 --> 00:16:05,368 collecting all the nutrients. 297 00:16:06,448 --> 00:16:09,470 Whereas a hybrid carpet system, when we harvest the pitch the 298 00:16:09,471 --> 00:16:12,212 machine cuts the roots off, rolls it in a very flat roll, 299 00:16:13,112 --> 00:16:16,374 all the work we've done for 16 weeks is just gone and then when 300 00:16:16,375 --> 00:16:19,356 it comes into the stadium we then have to start again. 301 00:16:20,020 --> 00:16:22,662 It's great because we also have a good canopy to work with, 302 00:16:22,742 --> 00:16:25,704 which is the grass, and then we try and push those roots back 303 00:16:25,764 --> 00:16:28,226 down, which is why we use the aeration systems like the 304 00:16:28,246 --> 00:16:30,387 ProCores. We put millions of holes in the pitch. 305 00:16:31,008 --> 00:16:33,390 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Together, these elite tools help Carl and 306 00:16:33,391 --> 00:16:36,452 his grounds team maintain Wembley's flawless, perfectly 307 00:16:36,512 --> 00:16:39,314 striped pitch. It can feel almost clinical in its 308 00:16:39,354 --> 00:16:43,577 precision, but nature rarely works that way. Spend some time 309 00:16:43,578 --> 00:16:46,259 in a garden or a park, and it won't be long before wildlife 310 00:16:46,299 --> 00:16:50,161 starts to emerge. Amid all this control and perfection has 311 00:16:50,261 --> 00:16:52,703 wildlife still been able to flourish at Wembley? 312 00:16:53,843 --> 00:16:55,744 KARL STANDLEY: You're not going to get anything like ants, 313 00:16:55,744 --> 00:16:58,166 you're not going to get anything like worms, because you don't 314 00:16:58,246 --> 00:17:02,408 have the organic content it's very very sand based because 315 00:17:02,409 --> 00:17:05,810 it's a winter sports pitch. Some of the things we do get are from 316 00:17:05,890 --> 00:17:09,212 very much above so you might have small little flies in there 317 00:17:09,432 --> 00:17:12,714 the ladybugs they'll be attracted because of the flies. 318 00:17:12,714 --> 00:17:16,576 We try and remove them off the pitch before we go and work Many 319 00:17:16,596 --> 00:17:18,718 a time you'll see one of my grounds team pick one up and 320 00:17:18,719 --> 00:17:21,121 just try to move it somewhere so it can enjoy its little life. 321 00:17:21,501 --> 00:17:24,784 We do have crows in here. We have had kestrels up on the 322 00:17:24,844 --> 00:17:28,888 roof. We have had some birds of prey. We also have pigeons. The 323 00:17:28,948 --> 00:17:31,270 crows don't like the pigeons. The pigeons don't like the 324 00:17:31,290 --> 00:17:35,414 crows. The ladybugs don't like the crows. We've had a few 325 00:17:35,534 --> 00:17:38,217 kestrels have a go at a few crows and they've had a go back. 326 00:17:38,617 --> 00:17:41,160 So it does have its nice little ecology as well that we have. 327 00:17:42,412 --> 00:17:44,253 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: And with that, it's time for me to swap the 328 00:17:44,273 --> 00:17:47,775 city for the wild comfort of the Pennines, carrying with me a new 329 00:17:47,835 --> 00:17:51,056 appreciation of the grass beneath the game and the people 330 00:17:51,057 --> 00:17:52,977 who work tirelessly to maintain it. 331 00:17:56,719 --> 00:18:00,041 And as the World Cup takes over our screens, our conversations 332 00:18:00,061 --> 00:18:03,843 and our dreams, the question remains, just how prepared will 333 00:18:04,023 --> 00:18:04,603 England be? 334 00:18:07,572 --> 00:18:10,673 KARL STANDLEY: England trained here, so pretty much this pitch, 335 00:18:10,673 --> 00:18:13,234 and the pitches at Tottenham where they were training, and St 336 00:18:13,235 --> 00:18:16,096 George's Park where they started their training camp, all of 337 00:18:16,097 --> 00:18:19,677 those pitches were the same as what will be delivered at a 338 00:18:19,917 --> 00:18:20,377 World Cup. 339 00:18:20,617 --> 00:18:24,059 Yes, the grass is different, but with England, we've given them 340 00:18:24,079 --> 00:18:26,680 everything we can as Wembley to give everything England need 341 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,501 from a pitch performance. They've got games and friendlies 342 00:18:29,541 --> 00:18:32,402 in Tampa, getting used to the climate, getting used to the 343 00:18:32,422 --> 00:18:35,323 pitch conditions. They'll be training on warm season grasses. 344 00:18:35,723 --> 00:18:39,389 These players also, they play everywhere. They can be playing 345 00:18:39,409 --> 00:18:42,370 at the Santiago Bernabeu. The following week they could be 346 00:18:42,390 --> 00:18:46,272 playing a Champions League game in Latvia. They could even be 347 00:18:46,292 --> 00:18:50,113 going into Sweden playing on artificial pitches. So when you 348 00:18:50,133 --> 00:18:53,575 look at a player, they are very adaptable and we hope they can 349 00:18:53,595 --> 00:18:54,175 bring it home. 350 00:19:00,278 --> 00:19:02,539 It's an absolute honour and a pleasure to be around both of 351 00:19:02,559 --> 00:19:05,120 our men's and our women's team because they're such incredible 352 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:08,845 teams. The technical teams, the management teams, the players 353 00:19:08,885 --> 00:19:11,950 themselves. It's great to see English football thriving. So, 354 00:19:12,271 --> 00:19:14,434 yeah, fingers crossed, men's and women's, they can bring more 355 00:19:14,474 --> 00:19:16,438 silverware and goldware back to Wembley Stadium. 356 00:19:27,756 --> 00:19:29,418 ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Thanks for listening to this episode of 357 00:19:29,438 --> 00:19:33,161 Wild Tales with me, Rosie Holdsworth. Why not follow us on 358 00:19:33,181 --> 00:19:38,025 Instagram at wildtalesnt and let us know who you're supporting in 359 00:19:38,026 --> 00:19:41,788 the World Cup or what your favourite type of grass is. See 360 00:19:41,789 --> 00:19:42,169 you soon.