Leeds United to relay Elland Road pitch with turf earmarked for NFL matches at Tottenham Stadium

Leeds United have started relaying the pitch at Elland Road with turf earmarked for NFL matches at Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium.

The deteriorating surface at Leeds’ home has been highlighted recently and they are set to spend around £300,000 on relaying the pitch for their final 10 Premier League matches of the season, starting with Everton on Feb 3.

Marcelo Bielsa’s team were meant to be playing on Wednesday but Southampton’s rearranged FA Cup tie meant the game was postponed, allowing time for work to be started this week.

Spurs had reserved the pitch with Hewitt Sportsturf as a contingency plan due to the events they were due to stage before the Covid-19 meants sport closed its doors to spectators.

They agreed to release the pitch, which uses a hybrid turf system, as it is no longer needed and Leeds wanted it for the rest of the season. Plans are already in place for Leeds to work with Hewitt when the season ends to install a new drainage system and pitch. Relaying this surface is described by the club as a “short-term solution” to improve the pitch for the rest of 2020/21.

“After the recent heavy rainfall and snow in Leeds, it became evident that the current system was unable to cope and as a result was struggling to retain sufficient stability in the top surface,” said Leeds United head of facilities Mark Broadley.

“We reviewed all options available and agreed the best possible solution was to remove the top surface and install the hybrid turf system HT Pro as seen at Tottenham Hotspur and Swansea City.”

Leeds have no fixture this weekend after getting knocked out of the FA Cup and their next Premier League game is an away trip to Newcastle United on Jan 26.