Glasgow Life Sport football pitches to receive £850,000 refresh
Football pitches across Glasgow Life Sport facilities will be refreshed as part of an £850,000, city-wide refurbishment programme.
The work will see several five-a-side and full-size pitches resurfaced at Glasgow Club Scotstoun, the Emirates Arena, Glasgow Green Football Centre, Toryglen Regional Football Centre and Glasgow Club Crownpoint between February and August 2025.
The revamps are part of Glasgow Life’s Synthetic Surfaces Refresh Programme 2024-26 and include new goals and nets at four of the five venues.
Glasgow Life, the charity that leads culture and sport in Glasgow, will become Scotland’s first third sector organisation to use a biodegradable corn infill on football pitches as an environmentally sustainable alternative to third generation (3G) rubber crumb.
The corn infill will be trialled on two five-a-side courts at Glasgow Green Football Centre, with work due to begin this month (February).
Providing a safe environment for people to play sport and take part in physical activities is one of Glasgow Life’s key priorities. Glasgow Life is also committed to environmental sustainability and, wherever possible, uses materials that reduce microplastics.
The European Commission has confirmed that, from October 2031, rubber crumb will no longer be buyable within the EU, meaning any new 3G pitches built after that date must have a non-rubber infill. This decision has led to a growth in research and testing of alternative, biodegradable infills.
The trial of the biodegradable corn infill at Glasgow Green Football Centre will help Glasgow Life understand the infill’s playing and maintenance qualities.
If the pilot – supported by Allsports Construction and Maintenance Ltd – is successful, alternatives to 3G rubber crumb infills could be used to resurface more of the charity’s football pitches in the future.
To make sure the pitch refresh programme is environmentally sustainable, the old synthetic surfaces and infills will be removed and transported by Glasgow Life’s partner supplier, Sportex Group, to its specialist recycling plant in Grangemouth.
Each part of the old pitches will then be separated, cleaned and recycled. The synthetic carpets will be melted, moulded and cooled to form boards which will be returned to their original site and placed around the base of the refreshed court to keep the new infill within the pitch.
The refurbishments are being funded by Glasgow Life, Glasgow City Council and the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Andrew Olney, Director of Libraries, Sport and Communities at Glasgow Life, said: “This investment reflects our commitment to improve people’s mental and physical wellbeing through sport. The refresh ensures Glasgow Life continues to offer high-quality pitches throughout Glasgow where players of all ages and levels can get active and enjoy a game with friends, family and teammates. The new pitches will offer modern playing surfaces and give people the chance to experience the life-changing benefits of sport.”
Gordon Thompson, Managing Director of Allsports Construction and Maintenance Ltd, said: “Allsports is delighted to be working with our supply partner, FieldTurf, to deliver two five-a-side courts using FieldTurf PureGrain infill as part of Glasgow Life’s refresh programme.”
Paul Fraser, Head of Marketing at FieldTurf’s parent company, Tarkett Sports, said: “At FieldTurf, sustainability drives everything we do, and PureGrain is a testament to this commitment. PureGrain is a 100% biodegradable performance infill derived from corn cobs, offering heat reduction, UV resistance, and a natural soil aesthetic, while being fully biodegradable and dust-free. We are delighted to be involved in delivering this project.”
Luke McGeechan, Group Commercial Director at Sportex Group, said: “Sportex is delighted that Glasgow Life has demonstrated through this project a commitment to delivering new synthetic turf sports facilities sustainably and with innovative, green initiatives at the forefront. Both through the recycling of the end-of-life turf at our processing plant in Grangemouth, as well as the provision of recycled sand and rubber within the new turf system, we hope that this project will both encourage and challenge other sports facility owners to deliver similar projects in the same fashion.”
