UEFA EURO 2016 France and others

Background

Following a competitive tender process in 2015, Richard Hayden was appointed as the lead pitch consultant for UEFA Euro 2016 France^TM. International pitch renovation company CRL were appointed as lead contractor for the project.

Solution

Project scope:

Team base camps prepared for all visiting teams
Venue specific training sites at all locations
Ten international grade stadia visited and advised accordingly
Emergency project management of Lille Stadium mid-tournament re-turfing

The Result

Although the project wasn’t without it’s challenges, the tournament was delivered with all matches played as scheduled. Extreme weather conditions in advance of and during the tournament caused issues on several sites, most notably Marseille and Lille.

An expert team led by Richard Hayden was deployed to support ground staff in Marseille and managed to stabilise playing conditions sufficiently for tournament completion. As widely reported in the press, UEFA took the decision to replace the pitch in Lille mid-tournament.

Richard Hayden was deployed personally into Lille as emergency project manager to remove and replace the pitch in just 36 hours. Delivery of the project represented the first time that this process has been successfully completed mid-tournament and the re-turf in Lille has since been held as an industry benchmark.