Interview with Amsterdam ArenA's Henk van Raan
The Amsterdam ArenA opted for PlayMaster by Tarkett Sports, a carpet-based hybrid grass technology. What motivated you to choose this system?
This is the second time that we’ve used the hybrid version, having first used it last year. Our previous experience, knowing that the system delivers tremendous playability and durability, which is especially important for a venue like the Amsterdam ArenA, with our very high density programme. Sometimes, even during the football (soccer) season, we might have some concerts, and so far, we have learned that the hybrid system is the only one where you can combine, in several numbers, events on the same pitch during the football season.
For instance, this year we will have the Rolling Stones concert in September and after that, we have a dance event, AMF in October. Our goal is that we keep the pitch alive, so we will cover the pitch for these events, then we will do the required maintenance, and play on it afterwards. With a standard re-turfing, it’s very hard to do this and, in our experience, this is only possible with a hybrid pitch. You do need some precautions, but if you do it well, it’s doable.
This was a very strategic choice for us, because the hybrid is more expensive than the standard re-turfing, but for us it’s very valuable, because it means we can do concerts in between games; this is why it is the best option for us.
I take it you opted for the ready-to-play PlayMaster turf sods?
Yes, we did indeed opt for the ready-to-play PlayMaster turf sods system. Due to the short turnaround between the U2 concert and the first in-stadium training session from Ajax’s opponent Nice – with only 2 days in between – we needed the fastest possible turnaround, which meant choosing the ready-to-play solution.