MAN CITY'S NEW PITCH TO INCLUDE A UK FIRST

The Premier League champions, Manchester City FC, have reported via their website that the pitch at the Etihad Stadium is under going a major revamp.

According to their official site, works were originally planned for summer 2020 but were delayed due to the pandemic and uncertainty around when the 2020/21 season would restart.

The club has announced that the new pitch will feature a UK first. It will have the ability to retain and recycle over 200,000 litres of rain and pitch irrigation water.

As well as this the new build will include an air vacuum system for the first time that can pull moisture out of the pitch against the force of gravity, which according to City will make the Etihad Stadium pitch one of just a handful to have this type of system in the UK.

Once completed, the pitch will be reinforced with SIS Grass for the first time, and installed by SIS Pitches.

The club says of the current project, "Excavation saw the pitch level dropped by almost half a metre, removing around 6,000 tonnes of rootzone, sand, gravel and clay. This will be fully replaced and the new pitch will sit at exactly the same level as the previous one."

There is a gallery of images of the rebuild on Man City's website.