Review of renovations at Excelsior, Volendam and Telstar

ARTICLE MARKET & CURRENT AFFAIRS

Wijnand Meijboom, Friday 15 August 2025

335 sec

after pitch renovation, Excelsior faces its next task: a new training complex

all professional clubs in the Eredivisie will play on natural grass from this season onwards. clubs like Telstar, Excelsior and Volendam therefore had to replace their artificial turf. here's a look back at these three pitch renovations.


when Excelsior secured direct promotion to the Eredivisie after last season, the club knew that the artificial turf in the Van Donge & De Roo Stadium had to make way for the mandatory natural grass. to carry out this €1.5 million project, a construction team was formed. the company Grasmeesters was brought in as an independent party with extensive experience and expertise in grass to coordinate and supervise the entire process. 'the advantage of that direct promotion was that we were able to start already in May,' says Hans Kok of Grasmeesters. by mid-July, the stadium pitch was already in excellent condition and could in principle have been played on. an additional advantage was that Excelsior had already begun preparations in July 2024, since the conversion was planned regardless of promotion.

family business

the search for a main contractor resulted in the choice of K. Groenenboom BV from nearby Barendrecht. a relatively unknown company in the field, but an excellent choice, according to Kok. 'it's a real family business, which fits perfectly with this club. there was an immediate good connection. one of the conditions in the tender was that the party laying the pitch would also be responsible for its maintenance. since they are only fifteen minutes away from the stadium, that's a major advantage.' meanwhile, the right machines for maintenance have been purchased, and during the grow-in of the stadium pitch, a mowing robot ensured the grass was cut daily.

setback

advanced systems were installed for pitch heating, a soil management system for draining and irrigating water, and a sprinkler system where 1 to 8 sprinklers can be controlled independently. these systems were installed by Sports Pitch, Draintalent and Wilkon, respectively. Tarkett supplied the artificial turf fiber for the hybrid pitch. one setback was that the drilled water source for drainage contained too much salt. 'that was unexpected. we are now mixing the water from the source with tap water and are considering building a buffer so that the water collected by Draintalent can be stored for first use,' Kok explains.

construction team Excelsior

a few meters larger

the new stadium pitch is a few meters larger than the old artificial turf pitch and therefore meets the required dimensions. of course, such a renovation also impacts the rest of the stadium. fencing, drainage, asphalt and so on all had to be adjusted. spaces for the technical installations had to be created or adapted. Kok: 'a lot is involved. moreover, there is currently insufficient electricity and gas. this is being solved with temporary provisions or adjustments to the installation. if, for example, grow lights are purchased, additional electricity will also be needed. the connections for installing the lights have already been made.'

new training complex

now that the stadium pitch has been renewed, the club faces its next major project: building a new training complex at Hazelaarweg in Hillegersberg-Schiebroek. there will be two training pitches and an accommodation. Kok: 'we first have to dismantle the greyhound racing club currently located there and hope to start in September this year. it will be a challenge because i believe it's the wettest spot in the area. we expect to be able to sow in spring so that Excelsior can train there from the next season. that's the plan!' until then, Excelsior trains at the fields of amateur club RVV Swift Boys near Kralingse Bos.

general director Daan Bovenberg: 'in addition to housing the men's professional team, we are also working on plans to accommodate our top youth team and our women's team at this location. housing men, women and youth under one roof should create an integrated top-level sports structure in which knowledge sharing, cooperation, equality and progression are central.'

Volendam was already prepared for mandatory switch to natural grass

the replacement of artificial turf with natural grass at Volendam's Kras Stadium also went smoothly. favorable weather conditions and the absence of setbacks meant that contractor CSC Sport completed the new stadium pitch well within the established schedule. the pitch was initially rejected because it was one meter too short. that missing meter was quickly added afterwards.

'the switch to natural grass had long been on the club's agenda. four years ago it didn't happen due to limited budgets and administrative issues, and at the time it wasn't yet necessary. however, all measurements and soil samples had already been taken, which allowed us to start immediately now. moreover, Volendam quickly knew they would finish at least second and therefore would promote and be required to switch to grass,' says Dave Muis, who was involved in the renovation on behalf of Grasmeesters as an independent party representing the club.

local contractors

to finance the entire operation, the club launched an initiative where supporters could buy one or more meters of the pitch. 'this was a very successful campaign embraced throughout the town and surrounding region.' as a local himself, Muis also found it very special to work for Volendam. 'many local subcontractors were involved in this project, which made working very pleasant.' Mölder Sportveldberegening supplied the irrigation systems and Sports Pitch the pitch heating. main contractor CSC Sport had originally installed the artificial turf and was now also awarded the natural grass installation. Muis: 'the run-off area is still artificial turf, of course. we were able to share our grass expertise in good cooperation whenever the contractor lacked specific knowledge.'

'fortunately the heatwave quickly gave way to real Dutch summer weather. ideal for grass growth'

since there was sufficient time to sow, that's what was done. shortly after sowing, a heatwave struck. 'you're inclined to keep watering, but that also has disadvantages, which could cause the grass to emerge a bit patchy. it was therefore a matter of carefully monitoring soil moisture, even on weekends. fortunately the heatwave quickly gave way to real Dutch summer weather. ideal for grass growth.'

slightly too short

less ideal was the KNVB's rejection in early August, because the pitch did not meet the required length of 105 meters. CSC Sport had maintained the old measurement of 104 meters, assuming it was correct. the company did not know that according to the revised KNVB regulations the pitch had to be 105 meters long. the company resolved this problem well in time by replacing half a meter of artificial turf from the run-off areas on both short sides with natural grass.

maintenance

maintenance of the new stadium pitch will be carried out by the team of W. Uitentuis Agrarische Dienstverlening en Groenvoorziening, also known from AZ's training center and stadium. besides the pitch conversion, the entire stadium was refurbished. for example, the sunken moats were raised and newly asphalted. many materials were reused during the thorough refurbishment, fitting the club's sustainability ambitions. for training, Volendam will for now move to neighboring Edam and to the nearby RKAV Volendam complex. perhaps a permanent training complex next to the stadium will come in the future. 'that would be ideal,' says local football enthusiast Muis.

replacement of Telstar's pitch was not stressful

for Telstar, promotion to the Eredivisie was a dream come true and this meant all efforts had to be made to make the pitch and the Buko Stadium suitable for Eredivisie football. yet this project was far less stressful than many media reports suggested.

'we had created a very realistic schedule with even a margin built in. replacing the stadium pitch was therefore certainly no rocket science,' says Dave Muis, who was involved in this project as site manager on behalf of Grasmeesters. 'we were the club's eyes and ears to ensure, with our grass expertise, that everything happened as agreed.' main contractor Finovi provided the project manager.

various scenarios

although Telstar's promotion was a big surprise, preparations had already been made behind the scenes. precisely to prevent the pitch conversion from becoming a stressful task. Patrick Balemans, on behalf of the KNVB, together with Grasmeesters, created various scenarios to manage an unexpected promotion. Muis: 'i'm a real football enthusiast and when Den Bosch won a period title, this preparation accelerated behind the scenes. it became more exciting every two weeks and after Telstar eliminated FC Den Bosch, we at least knew we could drop that scenario. we had made a cost estimate for the fictional club FC Nederland based on averages. we had also contacted parties to ask whether they would have time and to pencil in the assignment in their schedules. quite remarkable, really.'

media storm

after Telstar's promotion, a media storm erupted in which the pitch conversion was also a topic of discussion, but it took another week before all official documents were signed and the conversion could begin. 'it was a very busy week in which we had to measure everything precisely and also take soil samples before we could start.' one stroke of luck was the quality of the sand in the subsoil, which was well suited for drainage pipes. given the limited time to create a new stadium pitch, laying turf was the only option. the sods were supplied by Uniek Graszoden.

'the challenge was not in the new stadium pitch. that was just building up the lasagna'

Mölder Sportveldberegening supplied the irrigation installation and Sports Pitch the pitch heating. the old pump installation was located against the old stand and had to be modified due to the construction of a new stand. Muis: 'Mölder contributed excellent ideas here and solved the situation by lowering the well and replacing all old pipes. a big compliment for that. cooperation with all other parties also went very well. the challenge was not in the new stadium pitch. that was just building up the lasagna. a bigger challenge is maintenance and finding a permanent training complex.' for now, the professional players train on the fields of amateur club Waterloo in IJmuiden. 'of course, maintenance had to be stepped up as a result,' Muis concludes.

this article was previously published on august 15, 2025 on the website
of Fieldmanager.

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