West Bromwich Albion

The Albion Foundation is uniquely recognised for the quality delivery of sport and education

In Summer 2006, West Bromwich Albion completed the development of their £1.7 million indoor training facility, the ‘Academy Dome’. The Albion Foundation, which works closely with the football club, has made use of the new facility, delivering various coaching and learning courses for both young people and adults alike.

With this added usage, the wear and tear imposed upon the state-of-the-art facility could certainly take its toll. The heavy usage results in a flattened synthetic pile thus reducing the quality of the playing surface whilst also providing infectious diseases with an excellent surface on which to grow.

Like many top football clubs, West Bromwich Albion provides a number of match day packages which allow children to take part in tournaments which are hosted at the Academy Dome. The club also provides tours of the grounds and hosts sports camps during the summer holidays, offering children the opportunity to get involved with football, cricket and basketball activities.

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"You can eat your food off the floor at West Bromwich Albion."

Pitch perfect delivery by Sweepfast and RBT
RBT was invited to participate in the cleaning programme that was carried out by Sweepfast, at the West Bromwich Albion Academy Dome. Before treatment, swab samples were taken to measure the level of infectious contamination. David Reynolds, Director of Sweepfast, then performed a dry clean on the Academy’s 3G turf pitch.

The artificial turf maintenance machine lifts the infill from the pitch and passes it through an airstream, which is provided by a powerful onboard turbine. This separates the fine particles and then places them onto a sieve to separate the coarse particles. The cleaned infill is then returned back to the surface and brushed back into place in a single pass, leaving the operator with very little to do except admire his work. Following this process, the RBT moss, algae and bacteria killer was applied through a Pedestrian Electric Sprayer with a 30 litre tank.

The day after
The Academy was fully functional the following day. The surface and structure of the pitch had been rejuvenated and it had been relieved of its flattened and compacted feel. The Dome also smelt fresh; a further reminder of the thorough job which had been carried out by Sweepfast and RBT. The clinical tests which were conducted on the samples taken, identified that coliforms were present. Coliforms are a class of bacteria found in the faeces of animals and humans meaning they can be extremely dangerous should they find their way into cuts and grazes, onto hands (which could lead to cross contamination) or into contact with eyes, noses or mouths. The presence of this bacteria also causes major health concerns should it contaminate the drinking water which players use to rehydrate during games, as it causes infections such as E.Coli.

“E.Coli are almost exclusively of fecal origin and their presence is thus an effective confirmation of fecal contamination. Some strains of E.Coli can cause serious illness in humans.”

The bacterial contamination can be spread across the playing surface via the trainers, boots, socks and shorts of players, and can even make its way to other areas of the complex. Yeast and moulds are high and this is a significant concern if moisture is added to the environment, as that will increase the contamination.
*The Lab tests were conducted by ALControl Laboratories.

The result
RBT returned to the Academy Dome seven days later and reswabbed the 3G pitch. The results returned were all shown as being <10. To put these results into context, <10 is a level that would be allowed within a food preparation area. That’s quite a result.

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