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At the busiest times in the year, match days can be as common as three days a week for footballers, they are a huge factor of football.
When it comes to the most popular clubs in football, most fans will sit at home and watch their favourite teams play matches online. Some fans prefer to travel to the stadiums and get the full match day experience. The players prepare for the match in well-kept dressing rooms and then go onto a well prepared pitch.
It all seems pretty perfect. The pitches look perfect, the stadium is tidy and looks appealing and fans, players and staff are provided with food and drink.
But have you ever thought about how the pitches are kept perfect? Where all the food and drink waste goes? What food you’re consuming? How the players and staff travelled to the stadium? Or how the fans travelled to the stadium?
Well let’s think about it.
The Pitches
Football clubs ensure the pitches are in a perfect state before matches and training. The main reasons for this are to avoid injuries, to have a smooth game of football and to look better when televised.
The problem with the high-maintenance that the pitches require is its sustainable impact. Irrigation is performed on the pitches, the grass is mowed regularly and unnatural products such as nitrogen-based fertilisers are used on the pitches.
On a positive note, The Guardian has highlighted that teams such as Forest Green Rovers Football Club are switching to organic pitches. Proving a more sustainable approach is possible, they have eliminated all nitrogen-based fertilisers and chemicals from its ground maintenance. Instead, they are using a range of plant-derived products. The club’s chief groundsman, Stewart Ward claims “Some organic treatments are more expensive, but this process saves money in the long run by having healthier soil”.
Clubs such as Manchester United have switched to recycled turf pitches. Clubs are constantly looking to upgrade their facilities. Recycled turf is a more sustainable approach when it comes to upgrading training grounds.
Electricity
The floodlights, screens surrounding the stadium and indoor facilities such as kitchens are just some of the many factors of football stadiums’ high energy bills.
One club that has done well to lower their electricity costs is Arsenal F.C . In 2023, their Emirates stadium was the greenest Premier League stadium.
Arsenal is one of the UK’s biggest football clubs. The Emirates stadium can host 60,707 people. Considering the size of the club and their sustainable impact, other football clubs and businesses can definitely take inspiration from their work.
According to the report published by Bionic, 100% of the club’s energy is renewable. This includes the stadium, training facilities and offices.
In 2018, the club installed large-scale battery energy storage which stores enough energy to power the stadium for an entire match.
In 2015, the club installed LED lighting systems, which cut energy consumption by 30%.
The stadium is situated in London, where fans have the sustainable option of travelling to the matches via public transport.
The report also notes that Arsenal sends zero waste to landfill. All general waste is hand sorted to remove all reusable or recyclable materials. This has resulted in a matchday waste recycling rate of 90%.
On reflection…
It is clear from these examples that there are sustainable practices football clubs can implement into their sustainable development plans. Hopefully, we will see more football clubs working towards more sustainable strategies sooner, rather than later.
Follow us on LinkedIn for the next part of the series on Sustainability x Football where our contributor Lucy will look at how the World Cup can positively and negatively affect sustainability.