Widnes Vikings will practice on artificial turf as they return to Super League
Widnes Vikings have been granted permission on Sunday, October 16, to play on an artificial field as they return to their Super League berth after a long absence of seven years in 2012.
The Rugby Football League (RFL) has officially given the Vikings’ a go ahead for their games on the artificial field. This new pitch, which is also referred to as i-pitch, will be laid down at Stobart Stadium so as to prepare the field for pre-season training
in December.
Widnes played their first Super League season in 2002. That year they had finished seventh within the Super League hierarchy.
In 2003, the franchise finished ninth, whereas in the upcoming two successive years, they wrapped up in the eleventh spot. 2005 was their last year with Super League.
While speaking about Widnes’ comeback to Super League, the RFL chief operating officer, Ralph Rimmer, said, "The RFL-commissioned report was produced following an exhaustive process which included a comprehensive study into the performance of natural turf
pitches during the winter of 2010 and summer of 2011. The synthetic turf industry has made huge technical advances in recent years and this report gives clubs clear guidelines on what is required when installing surfaces that will not increase the risk of
injury to players and are both durable and safe."
The artificial pitch has been under observation for quite some time, dating back to the early half of 2010.
It took this long to get approval because a number of factors needed to be taken into consideration before a decision regarding this matter could be reached. The major factor which had held this a back for quite some time, was whether the use of turf was
safe for the players. It was also weighed out whether having artificial playing surfaces installed will increase the risk of injury for the players.
These all pointers were factored into by the RFL, before they could reach the decision of laying down the artificial turf in Stobart Stadium, where the Widnes will start their future Super League training for their upcoming season.
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