ready for more than 80,000 British fans in August. Wembley Stadium: "Super " of

fyou ask a British fan to name portion of the crowd may be sipping tea and the most famous American stadium, nibbling bisquits, the more vociferous fans Ihe'd probably say Yankee Stadium. are likely to be downing pints of ale. And If you ask an American sports fan to name naturally, the best seats in the house are the most famous British stadium, he'd say permanently reserved for the Royal Family. Wembley Stadium. Four years ago, the In 1984, Ralph Miller, the sales and pro- American probably would have had a hard motions manager of Wembley, thought it time even thinking of the name of one British would be sporting for the "Yanks" to bring facility. The (NFL), over two NFL teams for "a little exhibition" the international press and two groundsmen of American football for British soccer and have changed all that. rugby fans. The British Broadcast Corpo- For 51 weeks of the year, the pitch and ration (BBC) had introduced the to surrounding dog racing track at Wembley pubs across the Isle by telecasting the Super are sacredly British. More than half of the Bowl. The patrons of these pubs were int- stadium's 100,000 capacity crowd stands rigued by the rugged but strategic nature throughout rugby and soccer matches and of the . They began to organize dog races. They can't sit down, they don't amateur and semi-pro teams with their pubs have seats-just a place to stand. But they as sponsors. do have a roof overhead to protect them American brewers saw it as an opportu- from the daily rainfall while the players on nity to expand the market share of their the pitch get soaked. products in the thirsty nation by support- Bookies take bets as they walk through ing the growing popularity of football. With Sam Monson the stands like hot dog vendors. While a some encouragement from Anheuser- 20 sporlsTURF Busch, St. Louis Cardinal owner William Bid- well agreed to treat his team to a trip to En- gland. Mike Lynn, general manager of the , thought it was appropri- ate that the Vikings, with their European roots, make a symbolic crossing of the At- lantic to show the British a thing or two about football. At first the NFL wasn't sure how it would treat such exhibition . It has very definite rules on how many pre-season games an NFL team can play. The NFL's job is to ensure that all teams derive equal benefit from revenues generated by the league. William Granholm, assistant to the presi- dent of the National Football Conference, explains, "It's expensive for two teams to send 80 players and all their training and coaching personnel to England for a week. The teams needed a way to defray some of their costs. So the decision was made to allow them one extra pre-season game for their troubles." The teams were ready to go, but Wem- bley Stadium wasn't. It had one of the best pitches for rugby and soccer, but it had no experience with American football. It rare- Goal posts for American football had to be installed before the first game in 1984. ly had more than four days to convert the pitch from one sport to another since it was labor-intensive," Monson describes. "Where There was nothing Monson could do to so heavily booked. American expertise was we would use a 72-inch riding triplex reel improve the spectacular ryegrass turf. Eu- required if the event was to succeed. mower, they would take three hours to cut ropean groundskeepers had learned the su- The Cardinals play on at the pitch with a 3D-inch walk-behind reel periority of the improved perennial ryegrass- Busch Stadium, as do the Vikings in the mower that catches the clippings. We'd use es for sports fields years before the idea Metrodome. But, the Vikings headquarters a boom sprayer for spraying for weeds, in- took hold in the U.S. Gallagher was a leader and training center in Eden Prairie, MN, had sects or diseases. They use three or four in their implementation. He was also a leader a state-of-the-art natural turf field under the guys with backpack sprayers. Instead of in the use of high sand content soil. The care of facility supervisor Sam Monson. pushing the turf with a pound of nitrogen Wembley soil was 80 percent sand mixed When Monson heard the Vikings might be per month, they use moderate rates of slow- with cinders, peat and native loam. The dark going to play the Cardinals in Wembley, he release fertilizers. Where we'd use automatic mix warms with only minimal sunshine, asked Lynn if he could go to help out on in-the-ground , they take hours to drains well enough for most rainstorms that the field marking and preparation. By say- water the field with hoses or ocassionally venture inland from the Atlantic Coast, and ing yes, Lynn started a relationship between a portable sprinkler. It's a whole different can be spread just as easily as sand for top- Monson and the groundsmen at Wembley attitude about labor." dressing and divot repair. that is entering its fourth year. Monson wanted to give the British fans It rained nearly every day the week be- It wasn't that Don Gallagher, head a pitch that was as dressed up as the Su- fore the game. Monson quickly learned that groundsman at Wembley in 1984, was a per Bowl fields they had seen on the "tel- British groundskeepers don't have tarps. "If novice at turf management. He was an in- lie." The Wembley crew never had the oc- continued on page 22 stitution in England, clearly one of the top casion to paint large multi-colored shields groundsmen in the country. After 15 years and logos on the pitch in all its 80 years at Wembley, he knew everything there was of operation. "All they ever used was a white to know about the perennial ryegrass pitch chalky emulsion and a walk-behind liner," and how to help it recover from all types Monson adds. "They were accustomed to of sports and concerts held on it. Since it rain washing the chalk off the field during is the largest stadium in England, it is used a game. The idea of using a latex paint was for all types of events. The pitch endures not something they had ever considered as the ripping and tearing of cleats during proper, since a soccer game might be fol- serums, the huddle-like formations in rug- lowed by a rugby match the next day. by, the fancy footwork of soccer players, American football had never been played the dancing of punk rockers during concerts, in Wembley. The single-post goals had never and the rowdiness of soccer fans who oc- been erected on the pitch before. One of casionally pour out onto the pitch after a the first jobs Monson had to do when he match. Gallagher had discovered precise- arrived in London a week before the Au- ly how to repair the pitch after all these gust game was to install four-foot-square events with sod from Wembley's own nurs- concrete footers for the goal posts. To ac- ery, frequent overseeding and a good pitch- complish this the Wembley crew had to dig forking. out large holes in both goal areas, pour the If someone slipped and called his pitch footers, and replace the soil and sod in time a field, Gallagher would quickly explain, "A for the game. Except for one day every Au- field is where cows eat ... a pitch is where gust, the Wembley fans are unaware that sports are played." the foundations of American football lie "Sports turf management in England is beneath the surface of their pitch. Tingley wanted to paint the NFL logo himself. July, 1987 21 over the project and build the event up over numbers, hash marks and the four-foot-wide a five to ten year period." ready for Monson. The NFL took more than a year to exa- After going to so much detail to dress up mine all the aspects of staging the Wem- the field, Monson did not want rain to wash bley exhibition game. In 1986, when they away his hard work. He won a compromise were ready to try again, all the chemistry from Tingley that he could use diluted la- was there. The , the John tex paint for the emblems and logos. For Waynes of American football to the British, the white lines, Monson mixed the Snow- and the Chicago Bears, the colorful mis- cal chalk with white Mautz latex paint. As fits pubgoers related to, were paired off. This a result, the designs weren't as bold as the time the press, both national and interna- , but they were just as large. tional, got behind the contest all the way. The week before the game, it rained very It was like a volcano preparing to erupt. little. Conditions for painting were perfect. When Joe Rhein, NFL director of oper- Tingley spent hours working with Monson ations, checked with Wembley about the learning as much as he could. When the arrangements for the pitch, he learned that teams practiced on the field the day before the groundscrew respected the easy-going, the game, the pitch was perfect. This time tall Monson from the Vikings. Steve Tingley, when Monson awoke on game day, the walk- the new head groundskeeper, had sought ers in Hyde Park carried umbrellas to pro- Monson's opinion when the stadium decided tect themselves from the drizzle. He wasn't to install an automatic irrigation system and worried about the drainage, it was Tingley's sand slits to improve the drainage. He may NFL emblem he was concerned about. A fork is used regularly to repair divots and have been 6,000 miles from Wembley, but When he arrived at the stadium he found relieve compacted spots near goal areas. he still kept in . "I wanted to go back, that the latex paint in the end zones and Wembley Stadium of course," said Monson, "but I also knew emblem requiured only minor touch up. The continued from page 21 the NFL has its own team of experts it re- white lines, however, were tracking. The we had tarps, we'd spend all our time put- crew wiped up as much of the errant paint ting them down and taking them up with as they could before the game. the rain here," explained Gallagher. More than 80,000 fans packed the stadi- Between showers the day before the um this time. A week of frolicking by the game, Monson instructed Gallagher's crew Bears had drummed up ticket sales. The as they painted the lines for American foot- Cowboys chose to keep a low profile at the ball on the Wembley pitch for the first time National Sports Center's Crystal Palace in its history. Designs were very simple be- where both teams practiced the week be- cause Gallagher only had a few marking fore the game. The Dallas cheerleaders paints. Monson was losing hope as he made up for the shy Cowboys. watched the lines fade in the drizzle and The London weather, which resembled get tracked across the field. He went to sleep Chicago more than Dallas, tipped the game that night disappointed. in favor of the Bears, who despite a cer- He awoke early Sunday morning hoping tain irreverance to British or American cus- for enough sunshine to touch up the pitch toms, prevailed 17-6 in the rain. There was before the one o'clock game. To his delight, little doubt that the NFL had saved the ex- it was cloudy, but not raining. Hyde Park hibition from the throes of indifference. The was already bustling with walkers as he left upcomming contest between the Denver his hotel for the stadium. When he arrived, Broncos and the , was Gallagher had a few extra chaps to help out. sold out two weeks after the tickets went By gametime, not only did the pitch meet The entire field is mowed by a 30-inch reel on sale. "We could have sold 250,000 tick- mower with catcher. Monson's expectations, the American flag ets," exclaimed Wembley's Miller. flew over the stadium for the first time ever. lies on for big events. When Granholm called Both were a good omen for Monson. and asked if I wanted to go back to Wem- Only 37,000 fans bought tickets to the bley, it was like a dream come true." first game. For the most part, the local "Steve has in education what Don had papers were kind to the event, treating it in experience," remarks Monson. Gallagher more as a cultural exchange program than was so close to the conditions of the pitch a true sporting event. The teams received he knew what would happen before it did. their guarantees and the experience of Lon- Tingley went to school for groundskeeping don. The promoter, however, didn't get rich. and mastered turf courts before com- As Monson boarded the plane back to Min- ing to Wembley. "They are both good neapolis, he wasn't sure there would be managers of people," Monson notes. another exhibition game in Wembley for a When Monson returned to Wembley af- while. A bigger blow came to him when Gal- ter two years, he found the field in precisely lagher, whose health had been failing, decid- the same excellent shape. "Tingley was very ed to retire and leave the pitch in new hands. interested in the entire painting process," Little did Monson know, the NFL was not says Monson. "The first day he said he want- disappointed. "Magnitude is really a mat- ed to do the NFL logo himself. He had saved ter of logistics," says Granholm. "We knew all the patterns and boards from the first that American football was catching on game and was anxious to try them out." across Europe. There are currently more This time Monson brought with him all than 500 semi-pro teams in the Euro-Football the paint and stencils he would need for the League. But, it isn't the kind of thing a lo- NFL emblem in the center of the pitch and cal promoter can turn into an instant suc- the helmets and team logos for the end- No sprinkler heads are allowed on the field so cess. The owners felt the NFL should take zones. Tingley had the templates for the Tingley rigged up this Toro head on a stand. 22 sporlsTURF The Wembley grounds crew with Tingley in the center.

"Interest in exhibition games has exploded," says Granholm. "We could put on sell-outs in Germany, France and Italy tomor- row. We have offers from Israel, Sweden, Finland and even Sin- gapore, Malasia. Still, we are five to ten years away from any- thing that might resemble a foreign game schedule. Wembley wants us to hold five preseason games there." The NFL is playing the exhibition game conservatively for the near future. It wants to protect foreign events to the same degree it must protect its franchises in the U.S. The Tingley-Monson team will be back on the pitch next month trying to beat the rain again. Monson still hasn't convinced Wem- bley that tarps might not be a bad idea when you paint a pitch to NFL standards. But rain is not their primary concern this year. Whereas the NFL had the field for four days prior to the game the past two times, this year they have it for a mere 21 hours. The day be- SAFE fore the exhibition game, there will be a soccer match on the field. FOR ALL Monson and Tingley will have from 4 p.m. on Saturday until 1 p.m. on Sunday to wash off the soccer lines, paint the em- RUNNING blems and logos, install the goal posts, and mark all the lines, TRACKS AND numbers and hash marks. Furthermore, it might be raining the whole time. By the end of the day on Sunday, the NFL will hand RECREATIONAL the pitch back to the stadium in condition for an event the next day. AREASI If Monson survives the Wembley ordeal, he may find himself We offer 5 styles of quality edgings (round, flat or narrow facing two exhibition games next year. NFL Commissioner Pete top) to give professional architects and designers the Rozelle has given the nod for a second exhibition game outside choice they need and want for all types of installations, of the U.S. next year. Volvo has invited the Vikings to battle the competitive pricing and immediate product availability 12 months a year. All of this is available from one dependable Bears or the in Gothenburg, Sweden. Mike source! We can serve you through our network of fine Lynn might ask the NFL if Monson could work on that stadium too. Landscape & Nursery Distributors or promptly ship any- "It's funny, I hardly know what London looks like even though where in just a few days (freight allowance given in I've spent more than two weeks there," jests Monson. "It's Gal- areas not serviced by a distributor). lagher, Tingley and the pitch at Wembley that I think of when NON-BENDING STEEL ANCHORING STAKES I think of England. I just wish we could do somthing about that rain!" Our newest stake 9" deep by 1" wide angle steel was researched and well tested to Back home in Eden Prairie, Monson has one artificial field and eliminate all bending problems which are two natural sand-based fields to maintain. When the Vikings aren't common during installations in heavy clay in England, Sweden or on the , they are practicing in Eden or rocky soil conditions. Prairie. It's his job to make sure those fields are as good or bet- Our other four top quality polyethylene and ter than the stadiums the team plays at during the season. vinyl edgings are: BLACK EOG-KNIGHT, He credits Dr. Donald White, professor of horticulture at the BLACKJACK, SUPER-EOGAND EDG-OUEEN. University of Minnesota-St. Paul, for guiding him into a sports turf management career. Monson was one of White's turf manage- FREESAMPLES,SPECIFICATIONS. ment students and part of the crew at the university's golf course PRICINGAND LITERATUREARE ALWAYS AVAILABLEI WRITE US OR when the professor designed the university's sand-based Memorial CALL COLLECT312 833-3033 Stadium field. The school needed someone to manage the new (outside Illinois) field and White recommended Monson. , -BGG-EDGINGS White also designed the fields at the Vikings training center. Monson was the natural choice when the facility was built in 1980. IF YOU NEED AN EDGING MATERIAL THAT WE CANNOT "It's a constant learning experience to work with Dr. White and PROVIDE, CALL US ANYWAY AND WE WILL HELP YOU FINO IT/ Dick Ericson at the Metrodome," says Monson. "We are learn- ing to deal with some of the toughest playing conditions in the country, and now the world. That's the way we will solve injury @ty-@Ia !fJaIe4,§w;. problems, not by keeping secrets. Steve Tingley has helped me 54 East st. Charles Road • Villa Park, IL 60181 as much as I've helped him. We both have better facilities as Phone: 312-833-3033 • (outside Illinois) a result." ~ ...... ----- t-BOO-EDGINGS ... ., Circle 116 on Postage Free Card July, 1987 23