Football is being played again at the FFG toad pond - renovation took almost two years

Created: 08/12/2022, 20:01

By: Rudi Stallein

A lawn like in Wembley: After two years, the FF Geretsried pitch is playable again.

© Rudi Stallein

On Saturday, FF Geretsried can finally play a home game on their own pitch again.

Its renovation was delayed by half a year - and became more expensive.

Geretsried – It's a special moment, but Patrick Verbaaast isn't really happy yet.

This Saturday, for the first time in almost two years, football will be played at the sports facility on Robert-Schumann-Weg.

"The place is ready, but there is no formal acceptance yet," says the chairman of the Geretsried Football Friends (FFG).

Therefore he remains “critically cautious” for the time being.

Finally: football is being played again at the toad pond - renovation took almost two years

The skepticism is understandable after the tiresome history.

At the end of November 2021, when the first renovation work had been completed and new lawn had been sown, the Geretsried administration aroused anticipation at the FFG with the statement: "The ball can roll again next spring." But it was to be a difficult birth, as one knows almost nine months later white.

Background: The lawn at the so-called toad pond was once built on a gravel pit, filled with gravel, sand, humus and rubble.

The problems that have been occurring again and again for years with persistent rain - the pitch resembled a lake landscape in which football games were no longer possible - are probably due to the fact that the "filling" when laying out the pitch was not compacted in layers.

When the ball was supposed to start rolling again after the Corona break, heavy rain finally put an end to the playing field, which had sagged in some places over the years.

The city had the soccer field of FF Geretsried renovated - and encountered problems

The city, which owns the site, had to take action.

As part of a "quick repair", around 600 square meters of old lawn were removed, the sagging area was filled with 370 tons of gravel, "covered" with humus and seeded again.

The rude awakening came in the spring: the lawn hadn't grown, the players had to go on the move again, organizing a foreign pitch for their "home games" every 14 days.

"The first attempt was complete nonsense," speculates FFG boss Verbaast.

"The measure meant that the water problem had spread from the northern half to the entire area." The city of Geretsried contradicts this assumption.

"The completion of the pitch was delayed because the weather, with long frosty nights, did not allow the lawn to grow,"

explains press spokesman Thomas Loibl.

That is why a second company "with a focus on the cultivation of sports fields" was called in in the spring.

“They did what they are particularly good at,” says Loibl.

The place had been loosened up and sanded, additionally ventilated and newly seeded.

The grass is now sprouting.

Verbaast remains skeptical: "Of course we're happy that we can finally play on it again.

But the endurance test with rain is yet to come.

We only cheer when we see that it also works in difficult weather conditions.”

Platz der Fußballfreunde Geretsried: "It cannot be ruled out that there will be sagging again"

The city administration is also cautious.

"It cannot be ruled out that there will be bagging again," says Loibl and does not rule out further "cosmetic measures" in the future.

The "cosmetics" that have recently become necessary at the toad pond increase the costs by around 50 percent.

The first measure in autumn was communicated at 20,000 euros.

Loibl estimates the gross additional costs at around 10,000 euros.

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