AAMI Park turf guru on World Cup mission

Justin Lang, the highly respected Sportsfield Coordinator at Melbourne's AAMI Park, is embarking on the professional trip of a lifetime.

At the invitation of Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI), Justin has left for Brazil to provide his expertise at this year’s FIFA World Cup.

STRI are a world-leading consultancy for design, research, development and management of sports turf. Established 80 years ago, STRI boasts clients such as world football governing body FIFA, European football governing body UEFA and golf administrators Royal & Ancient.

STRI, which has offices in the UK and Brisbane, will also be turf consultants for the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia next January.

Under Lang’s watch, AAMI Park’s playing surface won back-to-back Professional Footballers Association Best Pitch Awards in 2012 and 2013. Lang and his team also meet the challenge of curating a field with the additional demands of rugby and rugby league - at times simultaneously when the three football codes’ seasons intersect.

Lang’s six week sojourn entails World Cup turf consultancy in Curitiba. His pitch assessments will contribute to reports for a venue scheduled to host four preliminary round games, including Australia v Spain.

Commenting on the trip, he explains “this will be my biggest career highlight so far. Possibly the biggest I will ever have.”

Lang’s other highlights to now include preparing the field for the Rugby World Cup in 2003, the cricket pitch for Australia v Rest of the World in 2005 and the Australia v Saudi Arabia World Cup Qualifier in 2012.

The invitation was something of a surprise for the unassuming Richmond fanatic who, after a decade at Punt Road Oval followed by a nine-year stint at Etihad Stadium, has been in charge of AAMI Park’s turf since the stadium’s 2010 opening.

He adds “I’ve never been overseas before, so you can imagine the scrambling to get my passport, vaccinations, banking and phones sorted (but) the encouragement from my young wife Brooke and my two little boys Spence and Tighe cannot not be underestimated."

The scale of the World Cup is evidenced by the 12 stadiums and 32 training facilities in use. While Lang expects reasonably similar surfaces to home, he’s looking forward to being on the ground to forensically assess these fields of dreams.

Asked what constitutes his own dream football pitch, he cites flatness, a good ball roll and cushioning for players via lush coverage of the same healthy grass specie, concluding “the soil must be consistent, well drained and it’s very important the whole pitch has consistent hardness. The one thing that players don’t like is inconsistency in hardness. To get these aspects right you need to get the agronomy (agricultural science) of the pitch right first.” 

Click here to contact STRI via their entry in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory.

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