Synthetic turf for high profile football academy in Italy

On September 22, 2012 in Rome, in the district of Morena, was inaugurated the new Rossonero football centre otherwise known as the “Amedeo Fabrizi” sports centre. This is one of the most important football youth academy centres affiliated to legendary club AC Milan, among over 120 schools and 40 affiliated football Academies to the Italian club. This sport centre project was born 5 years prior to the inauguration when AC Milan came to Rome and chose what was originally called the Lupa Frascati school as an affiliated football school. The partnership went on for four years between both parties until it was decided to renovate the academy into what is now the Rossonero football centre.

The result of these renovations is impressive as it is now considered as one of the best football academies in Italy, featuring an imposing and highly qualified structure. This is notably consisting of the main full-size grass pitch, 5-a-side pitches, a field dedicated to athletic training and physical rehabilitation, a gym and a physiotherapy centre. Moreover, the complex features new changing rooms directly connected to the main pitch via a tunnel under the grandstand. Among all of this was also the installation of two new synthetic grass pitches. Two monofibre 4Play turf systems were supplied in this regard; one 11-a-side pitch with 50mm yarn height and a 7-a-side pitch with 40mm yarn height this time.

The choice of these surfaces had been dictated by their characteristics; long life and great added value in terms of technique and performance, which makes them particularly well suited for outdoor fields. Indeed, it features technical characteristics that ensure this by offering excellent friction, wear resistance, an elastic base layer under the turf to obtain good shock absorption and UV protection for high durability. In addition, this synthetic turf has firm, upright blades which enhance rebound, ball roll and resistance, with sand and rubber granule fillers facilitating player traction while also minimizing the risk of injury.

All these synthetic turf features contribute to give young players at the Rossonero football centre an ideal environment with modern facilities to maximise their footballing development potential. This, along with the highly qualified educators and technicians trained by the AC Milan professional staff, makes the academy one of the best in Italy, being paradoxically located on rivals’ ground Roma.