It's a hybrid turf pitch hat-trick for Phase One of QPR’s new training ground.

Challenge

Queens Park Rangers (QPR) required an experienced and trustworthy sports contractor to construct three new hybrid pitches at their outstanding new training ground facility (as part of Phase One of the project), in Heston.

With aspirations to return to the Premier League following a 9-year absence, the club required the First Team squad and the rest of the club’s academy teams to train at the same training ground. Purchasing Heston Training Ground means that (with enhancements to the natural turf pitches), this would be possible. In decades past, the site was home to the Concorde Club, the existing pitches were considered a lesser quality than the Championship club required.

Following a consultation process with our in-house agronomist and Technical Director Dr James Welsh, the QPR hierarchy chose White Horse Contractors to construct the new pitches, due to their evidence of knowledge, and experience in constructing football pitches at elite level training grounds and stadiums.

With comprehensive knowledge in hybrid sports pitch installations, QPR required a new hybrid solution they could trust, our partnership with hybrid turf experts GrassMaster Solutions means we have the ability to construct the Phase One pitches to QPR’s specification.

Solution

To build new training ground football pitches, clubs need construction experts in the field. Managing Director David Smith, Technical Director Dr James Welsh and Contracts Manager Colin McBeth surmised a plan to ensure QPR would benefit from the space that they acquired in late 2020. With designs created in-house at White Horse and continuous consultation with the club to achieve their goals, our earthworks team landed at the Heston project site in October of 2021 to begin works for Phase One.

With earthworks across three full-size pitches to be completed within the initial stages of the programme, our team followed design works by our lead designer Juan Ferreira. This included “Pitch 1” which will mirror Loftus Road's pitch. The other two pitches are of similar specification to QPR’s Championship opponents.

Following surveying and earthworks, our dozer drivers began the cut and fill across the three pitches, to ensure levels are to optimum standard, and ready for high-quality sports drainage to be installed by our drainage division. In our 65+ year history, we have installed sports drainage for football clubs such as Chelsea, Luton Town FC and more.

Alongside these works, we installed a new 10,000-gallon capacity irrigation tank, the first at the Heston Training Ground.

In February 2021, the UK faced an intense cyclone known as Storm Eunice. With a red weather warning covering the Heston site, the aftermath of the high-speed gusts and winds meant some of the sand and rootzone that had been pushed out would need to be respread across the three pitches. Knowing we were originally ahead of schedule, the complications of the storm did cause a slight delay, but our operators worked effectively to get us back on track.

With all three pitch subbases stable and ready for GrassMaster Solutions arrival, the hybrid turf installation experts joined White Horse Contractors on the Heston project site.

All three pitches, goalkeeping areas and the rehabilitation area have GrassMaster monofilament fibres installed thanks to the GrassMaster team and their GrassMaster Gen-S machines. The Dutch companies Operations Director Scott Brooks consulted with Contracts Manager Colin McBeth and Dr James Welsh on site to ensure the successful delivery of the phase one pitches.

With over ______ monofilament fibres installed across the three pitches, we seeded in three different directions to ensure ultimate coverage across the site.

QPR’s Malcolm Gardner will oversee the pitch maintenance with his grounds team at the club. James Welsh, Colin McBeth and representatives from GrassMaster Solutions will be in contact throughout the maintenance period and beyond, thanks to the relationship built with the experienced Head Groundsman.

Results

QPR will now be able to begin a new chapter at their training ground, by welcoming the First Team back to their training base. They have provided all teams with world-class elite hybrid pitches.

The change from the original natural pitches to the hybrid constructions we have built means that players in the youth setup will be able to visualise a clear pathway to the first tea, knowing they are on pitches adjacent. By investing in the new pitches and training ground, the club continue to progress in their mission to reach the heights of the football pyramid, once again.

White Horse Contractors have already begun works to the training grounds second phase, with two more hybrid pitches to be installed, as well as additional hybrid areas on the Heston site.