Before any thoughts of relaying the pitch, there has to a pitch replacement installed to let U2 perform. Within an hour of Dublin beating Kildare in a pulsating Leinster football championship, that work had started.

A convoy of machinery from Clive Richardsons in Armagh rolled in on July 12th and began digging out the surface. A carefully planned logistics programme meant that 3500 tonnes of new sand was brought in and out of the stadium in just 2 days.

It would have been an amazing sight to see up to 20 pieces of plant and equipment working on the pitch dig out, all carefully choreographed working in perfect cycle.

The old desso hybrid pitch was replaced with a fibre reinforced pitch and handed back to Croke Park a full day and a half ahead of schedule.

“The pitch replacement went perfectly and in fairness the contractor did a great job. Nearly 250 people were involved in this section of work including Clive Richardsons Armagh, Irish Turfcare Kildare, Sean Taff Haulage, Kildare, Darcy Sands Wexford and premier pitches UK. It’s a specialist game with no room for error” said Hayden.

With the pitch replaced, the huge “claw” stage was put in place and U2 were able to rock the stadium with three world class concerts.

The next stage – choosing the turf – caused some ruffles, but it was a decision not taken lightly.

The turf was chosen from County Turf in Scunthorpe in the North of England.

“When installing a lay and play turf pitch, one of the most important criteria is the quality of the turf. The soil, sward, maturity and strength have to be just right in order for it to pass the criteria. We walked hundreds of acres of turf to choose it.  With so many stadia in the UK, there is a market for such turf whereas in Ireland there isn’t” added Hayden.

The turf was harvested and transported in 90 refrigerated trucks ready for use in Dublin.

It was an All-Ireland operation to get the everything sorted as Cork man Denis O Regan of the STRI planned and managed the logistics of getting the turf from Scunthorpe to Croke Park. “We were restricted in what access routes we could and couldn’t use to the site. The transport company DSV did a great job in ensuring the turf got here on time and at the correct temperature”.

Limerick man Muiris Gilbourne of the STRI monitored the temperature of every roll when in storage, adusting the fridges accordingly.  

When U2 upped and left, all that was left to do was install the pitch, but there were a few snags along the way. A residents protest at Croke Park started at 2 am on July 28th and for the rest of that day. With the turf sat in the freezers all of the planning and all of the programming for the turf installation was jeopardised.

The problem was resolved at 4 pm on Tuesday afternoon but not after losing 10 precious hours. The turf was damaged on the edges from the burning effect of the freezers but our main priority was to get the pitch installed and playable for that Sunday.

The crew worked phenomenal hours to achieve the goal with the first 8 hour sleep period on Thursday night. 

Hayden explained, “We were working on sleep breaks of about 3-4 hours for the few days which was difficult. In fairness every man on then 60 man crew pulled together; I think one of the factors was that most of the people working on the installation were GAA fans. They wanted it right.”

The pitch was installed and prepared for play ahead of schedule on Friday July 31. Then the pitch was then subject to a series of performance tests by The STRI before play. 

The proof though as they say is in the playing and things looked on a knife edge as media comment was initially very cautious as the pitch just didn’t look the usual perfect. However, after the first game it was agreed by all that the pitch played perfectly; no slipping, perfect ball bounce, perfect play. Even the losing Donegal and Dublin teams were complementary about the surface.

As the weeks progressed the burnt areas have filled in with new grass and the pitch has returned to its previous best; or better.

Hayden, who is currently in South Africa working soccer pitches for next year’s World Cup gave huge credit to the Croke Park work to the  GAA and the stadium crew for pulling this project off. Also involved were the consultants from STRI, The contractors Clive Richardson and all of the various sub contractors involved.

Through this entire group’s tireless work Croke Park was able to have a ‘Beautiful Day’ once again.

Diggers and Lorries on the field at Croker

It was an amazing week in the life of the Croke Park pitch. Sleepless nights, protests and deep freeze were all part of turning the Jones Road stadium from a U2 set to a GAA playing pitched. More than 240,000 concert-goers walked on the storied ground over that July weekend, but it was Richard Hayden’s job along with 50 other workers- mostly from Kilkenny and Armagh – to bring it back to its original shape.