Hull City owner Acun Ilicali is hopeful the pitch problems encountered at the MKM Stadium in the past couple of seasons will be a thing of the past, as the club prepares for life in the Premier League.
Despite a significant investment in recent seasons, the playing surface at the MKM Stadium throughout the winter months last term caused all kinds of problems, and well before the rugby league season got underway.
Both Sergej Jakirovic and opposition managers were highly critical of the quality of the pitch, which looked poor and was difficult to play on, and did not reflect well on City.
During a home defeat to QPR in late February, Ilicali was seen inspecting the playing surface prior to kick-off amid a growing frustration from staff and players about its quality.
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Over the summer months, the club have invested again to ensure the issues that have dogged the playing surface will not be an issue this term, and cause the Tigers significant embarrassment on the world’s biggest stage.
There have also been changes to the grounds’ maintenance team, both at the training ground and MKM Stadium, with Ryan Golding replacing Aaron Tong. Golding spent more than two decades working at Headingley with Leeds Rhinos.
“The pitch is saying ‘Come and play on me’, which is fantastic,” Ilicali told the club. “We now have new people responsible for our pitch. Last year, I remember myself before the (QPR) game, I was walking on the pitch, hopelessly checking how bad the pitch was. This year, I think the new guys are very good in the business.
“We spent big money on the pitch, but it didn’t work for these two years, but they say that this year will be completely different, and it’s going to be a good pitch that they (the fans) will see.”
A host of improvements are in the process of being made to the infrastructure at the stadium, too, many of which are required by the Premier League, who have been in regular dialogue with the club to oversee and agree on plans, all costing in excess of £1m.
Cameras for Video Assistant Referee (VAR) have to be installed, as well as a complete overhaul of the media facilities, which is taking place to accommodate the increased press demands from the world’s media, and there will be changes to the LED advertising and scoreboards at either end of the arena. While a lot of changes fans won’t see, Ilicali says, there will be some they do notice.
“We are working with the Premier League guys. The Premier League have asked for many changes, and we are doing it,” he continued. “Everything will change. Some of them will be discovered by our fans, but maybe some of them, like technical things about broadcasting, might not.”
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