The European Cup is going on in a lively manner. You watch the football stars dribbling, passing and shooting one by one. It's like they have magical powers on the soles of their feet, rubbing against each other on the green stage. However, football and lawn are not related at the beginning. It doesn’t matter if you don’t play well. You can first understand this magical “green”.

Croatia star Modric skates and kneels on the lawn

From dust to grass The lawn became a venue for football matches only in the 1960s. Before that, it was held on dirt grounds - football was dusty on sunny days, but when it rained, it turned into a mud pond. game. Turf just solves these problems. In addition, football is becoming more and more popular. With many professional players making a living and large-scale competitions, the competition has become more intense and there are more and more physical confrontations between players. Turf is also popular among players because it has good elasticity and can cushion the impact when falling.

The lawn of the football field is naturally not as disorderly as the meadows where horses are grazing, nor is it like the green grass in the park, which is just a "face project." Because people have to exercise vigorously on it, they have special requirements for its elasticity and hardness. Therefore, the lawn of football fields is very particular. Over the past decades, a complete set of systematic projects has gradually been formed.

The first is the selection and combination of grass species. Next, we need to consider the physical structure of the lawn, with clear layers such as drainage layer, support layer, buffer layer, etc. Later, floor turf and artificial turf emerged that could be disassembled and assembled. With every World Cup, team players are updated and the stadium lawns also keep pace with the times.

The structure of a football field lawn is no simpler than a building. Its underground part is divided into 4 floors:

1--Sand layer: It is composed of soil and fine sand. It is the planting layer and nutrient layer of lawn grass, which can fix the grass roots and retain fertilizer. At the same time, the soft sand can also cushion the impact of falling or sudden stops and turns during exercise.

2--Mixed layer of gravel and coarse sand: Larger particles of gravel and coarse sand can prevent the upper layer of fine sand from falling into the water pipes and blocking the water pipes, but at the same time it does not delay water seepage.

3--Pebble layer: Select large pebbles to cover the pipe network, which can support the upper soil and does not affect water seepage.

4--Drainage pipe layer: Drainage pipes are the channels for the circulation of excess water in rainy and snowy weather or after watering. It is in the shape of an inverted trapezoid with an open top and is embedded in rammed earth. The entire network of drainage pipes is arranged in a fishbone shape.

Therefore, there is a big difference between the lawn of a football field and the lawn in the park or on the hill behind your house.

The grass of the stadium lawn cannot be scrawled. Not all grass is suitable for football field lawns. The most basic standard is that it must have strong viability, be resistant to trampling, and be easy to take care of. If a game had not been played, the lawn would have been devastated. Most lawn grasses are selected from wild grasses through artificial cultivation. Their common characteristics are: many and small leaves, slender and upright, and tough leaf sheaths. The densely grown small leaves make the lawn very dense; the upright and slender grass blades help light transmit to the lower layer of the lawn to prevent the plants from growing poorly due to being too dense; the tough leaf sheaths can protect the leaves during pruning and trampling.

The seasons of the five major football leagues such as the Premier League and Serie A, which are popular around the world, span almost 10 months of the year. Therefore, in order to maintain green grass for a long time, most football fields choose grass species with a leaf green period of more than 200 days. Geographically speaking, each football field is located at different latitudes, with different cold, warm, dry and wet conditions. The selection of turf grass will also be based on local conditions - usually the 35° latitude line is used as the boundary, and cold and warm turf grass are planted respectively.

cool season turfgrass

The genus Poa in the family Poaceae is distributed in temperate and sub-arctic zones, with approximately 250 species worldwide. It can successfully survive the winter at a low temperature of -20°C and remains green at -9°C, but has poor heat resistance and begins to wither when the temperature reaches 25°C.

Ryegrass belongs to the genus Lolium in the family Poaceae, mainly distributed in the temperate continent of Asia and Europe, with more than 10 species in total. It can still grow during the long winter, but is dormant in summer.

Tall fescue belongs to the genus Festuca of the family Poaceae and is distributed in temperate and subtropical regions. It is the most resistant to drought and trampling among all lawn grasses, can adapt to extensive maintenance, and has strong disease resistance, but it is not tolerant to high temperatures.

In areas with latitudes higher than 35°, football fields are mainly planted with cool-season turfgrasses such as bluegrass and ryegrass. They are short in stature, have thick leaves, and are resistant to poor soil and severe cold. In places with latitudes below 35°, warm-season lawn grasses are mainly sown. As you can tell from their names, they come from the tropics: Manila grass, Bermuda grass... Most of them reproduce quickly, have a long lifespan, and will not wilt when exposed to the sun. Warm season turfgrass

Manila grass, a genus of Zoysia in the Poaceae family, is distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Australia.

It has excellent toughness and elasticity and is extremely resistant to trampling. Manila grass likes to grow in hot and humid environments and reproduces quickly.

The Bermudagrass genus Bermudagrass is distributed in the tropical regions of southern North America.

The suitable growth temperature of Bermuda grass is between 25 and 35°C. It likes a humid environment and stops growing when the temperature is lower than 16°C.

Paradise grass belongs to the genus Paradise grass in the family Poaceae and is distributed in subtropical areas of Asia and Africa. The plant is low-growing and has dense leaves, making it particularly suitable for football field lawns. It has a well-developed root system and outstanding drought tolerance.

Painting on the lawn is not just for good looks

Stade de France, one of the venues for the European Cup

Some people may ask that stripes, concentric circles or grid patterns are often seen on football field lawns, and the colors are different, deep and light. Is it just for good looks? In fact, in addition to having a decorative and beautiful effect, these patterns can also help players, referees and spectators judge whether it is offside. According to different "drawing" methods, it can also be divided into temporary patterns and permanent patterns.

temporary pattern

It is a pattern pressed into the lawn with a roller. When mowing the lawn, use a roller to roll it in different directions so that the stems and leaves of the lawn grass fall in different directions. Due to the difference in light reflected from the leaf surface, the lawn shows dark and light patterns. But after a period of growth, the lawn grass returns to its natural vertical state, and the pattern will disappear.

The lawn can also be made into a checkerboard pattern. The picture is of the Toulouse Municipal Stadium for this European Cup.

permanent pattern

It is formed by planting lawn grasses with different leaf colors. Before sowing, first draw a pattern on the base soil layer, and then sow seeds according to the pattern. The color differences between varieties are used to express the pattern.