Huddersfield Town chairman Dean Hoyle has purchased an additional three lighting rigs in an attempt to improve the condition of the John Smith's Stadium pitch.
With the ground not only hosting Huddersfield Town's SkyBet Championship promotion push but rugby league side Huddersfield Giants' games as well, it has seen a rapid deterioration over the past month with the onset of the new Super League season.
Head coach David Wagner has also been outspoken about the state of the playing surface, believing it to be preventing the intense passing game he prefers his side to play.
And now the chairman has backed his boss by investing £400,000 to help sustain the quality of the pitch in the crucial run-in to what could end with a Championship promotion for the club to celebrate.
These additional rigs double the amount at use around the ground, following the three the Stadium company, KSDL, have been using throughout the season.
Two of those were bought in the summer in an effort to accelerate grass growth and keep the playing surface to a near perfect condition all year round with both the varying weather conditions and two different competitive sports being played on it to consider.
Huddersfield Town’s Chief Executive Julian Winter commented: “We are doing everything we can to help keep up the quality of the pitch at the John Smith’s Stadium.
“The lighting rigs will help the pitch recover a lot quicker now that it’s is being used more regularly with the start of the Rugby League season and will also help the groundsmen at the Stadium deal with the varying weather conditions, in what is a particularly challenging time of year.
“The additional three lighting rigs means the groundsmen will be able to focus on larger percentages of the pitch and will help the condition of the grass as a whole.”
The club are also hoping the fact there is no John Smith's Stadium fixture for either Town or the Giants until Friday, March 24 when the latter face Leeds Rhinos will also bring an improvement before Town face Burton Albion on Saturday, April 1.
