Richard Hayden: “The stadium is a masterpiece and a fitting iconic landmark for such a beautiful city”

Richard Hayden is a global Irish pitch consultant with a long line of credentials from FIFA and UEFA. He has been part of the Zenit pitch team since 2009 and is one of the most respected consultants in the world. He let us know his thoughts on Zenit's home arena.

In March 2018, the new Stadium St.Petersburg marked an important anniversary for Hayden. The installation of our new Hybrid pitch marked the 300th pitch that the Irishman has worked on spanning 53 countries. This impressive list has included the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Euro Championships, the UEFA Champions League over the past 20 years. We caught up with Richard on his recent inspection visit to St. Petersburg.

“The pitch at Stadium St.Petersburg is unique. I am not aware of any other stadium in the world which closes its roof for the entire winter period to create perfect spring conditions for player and fan comfort, yet maintaining a natural turf pitch” says Hayden. The new stadium uses state of the art technology to create a comfortable environment indoors while the extremes of the Russian climate rage outside. “It’s possibly one of the most technically demanding groundsman jobs in the world. We have an excellent team here led by Kosta Kreminsky. We have regular meetings with stadium director Vladimir Litvinov who is very supportive and aware of how important the pitch is. Hayden recommended that Zenit sign Kreminsky from FC Metalist Club in Ukraine, where he delivered the best pitch of UEFA EURO 2012 under the direction of Hayden. He has been with Zenit since 2012.

Many modern stadia have shade issues but few have ever attempted to grow grass entirely artificially in the way which is used at Stadium St.Petersburg. “The lights have been specially developed for the environment in the stadium as has the irrigation and soil climate control. All the essential items which the grass needs are provided artificially under the daily management of Kosta” says Hayden.

It was decided to install a rolled Hybrid grass called “Mixto” in the stadium in January 2018. The technology involves the growing of natural grass in a synthetic turf carpet and transferring this from the nursery to the stadium. “Its similar grass to that used in the Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid” says Hayden. “The pitch team worked from mid-December, right through Christmas and New Year to have the pitch installed in time. 20 refrigerated trucks carried the previous cargo an estimated 3000 km over a 72 hour trip from Denmark to St. Petersburg in January 2018. “We were very thankful to the government authorities for assistance in planning the job. The technology is installed and is performing perfectly. The visiting teams love it and I am confident that we have now achieved our aim; to have Russia’s best pitch by March 2018”. Visiting national and international teams as well as Zenit St. Petersburg own manager have been very complimentary of the pitch surfaces which has been described as “perfect” 

Wembley Stadium in London, UK, Maracana Stadium in Brasil, Soccer City in Johannesburg, Stade De France in Paris and Olympic Stadium Berlin are amongst the estimated 100 iconic stadia which Hayden has provided pitches in. So what does he think of our new stadium? “It’s a masterpiece and a fitting iconic landmark for such a beautiful City as Saint Petersburg,” says Hayden. Yes, there were problems with the time and budget it took to build, but this is quite common in modern stadia projects. “The price is soon forgotten when the quality remains,”  says Hayden. The fans of Zenit and the City of St. Petersburg can be proud of the achievement. The world will be amazed when images of the stadium go global for the FIFA World Cup. 

We have a rolling pitch and this is an important tool for us to manage the pitch. Our next big task is to roll the pitch outside for recovery in spring, in time to prepare the surface for the FIFA World Cup. “We are honoured in this business to have the important job of preparing the stage for the greatest football event in the world. And the World will see the fruits of our labour on 12 June 2018” said Hayden. He plans to fly onwards to his next big project in Mauritius as we speak. A slightly warmer 25 degrees than our -10 degrees in St. Petersburg.