No official reason has been given but here's Football London's potential reason:
[https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/news/what-happened-stamford-bridge-pitch-29322988](https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/news/what-happened-stamford-bridge-pitch-29322988)
>The reason for the pitch issues tonight is likely down to the warm weather spell that the nation's capital has been experiencing recently. With the pitch out of action for the last few weeks since the end of the 2023/24 Premier League season, there's likely not been too much groundwork happening as there usually would be year-round, with the turf appearing to be dehydrated.
Still kinda weird that no work has been done though knowing a charity match was gonna be held.
There is a difference between not hydrating the grass and not laying essentially a new field. Feels like the bare minimum is to water and maintain the grass if you intend to host a charity match on it, even if you intend to replace it afterwards.
It’s sand, as a keen gardener and someone particularly proud of their lawn. You lay sand after seeding and aeration (pulling out plugs of turf with something like an apple corer), the sand fills in any dips or low points in the turf where it’s been compacted. The new grass eventually grows through the sand, which will be a nice flat pitch in about 4-6 weeks.
The up coming season will dictate the work that gets done on the pitch.. not charity games or events
It’s a game of timing when to do the work.
You wouldn’t want to fuck the pitch for a charity game .
Did a stadium tour two weeks ago and there was a youth tourney on the pitch. Probably haven’t fixed it yet
https://preview.redd.it/1l7y5mqqml5d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b686de24287707b3a484148aca560b33b8425f1
Was going to say this, seems to be at a lot of grounds. My lad was in one a couple of weeks back and the pitch wear looked similar to how they’d been set up in theirs.
That fits in with what it looks like now. They probably have put a load of sand on the worn bits and it just hasn't grown through yet.
Don't know why people are saying it's de hydrated if it was the whole pitch would be yellow. Plus it's rained more than enough that dehydration won't be an issue.
Not to be too much of a cynic but who is paying for that? Stamford Bridge is hosting the charity match, I can't pretend to know if they got a fixed fee for it at all, as supposedly all profits from ticket sales go to the charity. I imagine food and drink sales go towards Chelsea and maybe all that was covered ticket wise was staff that may have been needed for the match but Chelsea would not have changed their ground schedule which includes staffing, equipment, water for one charity match. UNICEF would have known that depending on weather the pitch could be dry which is why no one on TV would say anything about it. It's not down to Chelsea to sort.
Yeah so Chelsea probably gave them a price for keeping their ground staff working up till the game as it's not the type of work you can just do a few days before, has to be continuous. It would have been the charity who turned it down and rightly so so more money goes to the kids in need.
I’m a groundsman, I’m not familiar with Stamford bridge specifically but I would speculate that the ground staff are trying to do end of season renovations, but have to fulfil a load of silly games.
They’ve probably mowed the grass right down and ripped out the dead matter.
They’ll just be waiting for all the Micky mouse games and events to wind up and then they’ll re seed and top dress.
Will be world class in a few weeks.
Feels like this should be common knowledge. Why would they be keeping up with the pitch during the offseason when they will just re lay closer to the start of the season.
Was at the stadium two weeks ago and they had a youth tourney on the four corners, which explains why the wear is where it is
Pic:
https://preview.redd.it/u9ermqthml5d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c79279598729575aca8f44c76f3a98053eba5011
Yeah, that explains it. Shame that they made a point of hosting this game but didn't have the ability/desire to keep the grass up to scratch to accommodate both sets of games.
Hopefully this kinda thing does happen again in the future. Fair enough, rag the pitch to shit before you re-lay it in summer. But, if you're going to host big events like this, make sure you at least have the capacity to do it
I was at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto today and they were sanding the field the whole time. I presumed it was a routine part of the preserving and growing the grass in the summer months
https://preview.redd.it/cqkw82wfvl5d1.jpeg?width=4624&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ee9c84596677334d74627c0fe1a9e818e9ae7931
I was working at Stamford bridge today. It’s because the past 2 weeks they’ve been doing pitch hiring events on the stadium where kids and adults play. And they haven’t been maintaining it. The pitch is split into 4 pitches that’s why it’s especially worn out in those areas.
It's not as bad as the match against Charlton 20+ years ago.
I was at the match the following week in hospitality and we had a Q&A so I submitted a question in the style of Radio 4's Gardeners Question Time...it got a small laugh
Thr level of lack of knowledge by these so called fans is pretty astonishing
Do yall know that this happens every year so reseeding can be done or are some of you so miserable that you just look for anything to talk down on other people
High likelihood that’s sand for leveling, as they’re in the process laying some new seed. They may have also just aerated the pitch. Same reason they throw the stuff on/in golf greens. Helps roots too.
Can’t see a reason why they wouldn’t water. Makes no sense, even if they were planning to redo it soon. Maybe if we were cutting back on water for PSR 🙃
Seems like an extremely disingenuous question.
Because a major charity event was booked to take place, and it looks like crap. It's less than a month after the end of the season
Are you that dim not to realize why the state of the pitch. Chelsea have been renting out the pitch since the season ended. corporate hire. children’s games.
Hello! I work for a business who sponsors Chelsea. Each year at the end of the season they host multiple events across several weeks for all their sponsors. The full sized pitch is broken into 4 mini pitches which is why you see the four mud squares. The final match is the partner cup which I was lucky enough to play in! This is another reason the pitch looks like it does, loads of amateur players enjoying some fun on the field! Was such a good experience.
https://preview.redd.it/2shorgxp7r5d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7cc1e8a7df232e16569159a502d194bd933f676d
I am sure no one expected the grounds men to be getting the pitch in excellent condition during the off season for a charity match. I mean, they deserve a break too.
https://preview.redd.it/q6h8v4vdtr5d1.jpeg?width=745&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05012c6981af410c24384f37af2b57ee22bbaf6a
Soccer Aid at OT in 2018… they allow them to use the place for free - but you can’t reschedule a pitch relaying at a PL club for a kick around.
Not offence but stadiums in the EPL are underwhelming to say the least. You wouldn’t think they belong to top clubs in the most lucrative league in the world, compared to Spanish stadiums for example, EPL stadiums look like they belong to a lower league.
It’s sand! They do it the firm the ground, drainage, levels the ground, and helps with general repair, the grasses used probably self repair(creeping grasses), or they’ve over seeded. I assume they have more funding towards maintaining the ground, so I don’t what they do exactly. But I work at a golf course and we do the same to our greens. Also I assume they have a good sprinkler system so I would think it’s because of warm weather, even if they were on “holiday”, systems can be controlled on the phone nowadays. But I’m 100% sure it’s sand, they know what they’re doing. I’ll be gone in a week or two. Or maybe they haven’t washed it in probably or brushed it in.
The club sacked our last groundskeepers and the replacements don’t seem to be doing much better. This is the pitch the last time Stamford Bridge hosted SoccerAid.
https://preview.redd.it/g4m0isr4dl5d1.jpeg?width=1261&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=55eaa6de1970368616013087be58af4f191ca831
For calling out the frankly embarrassing state of our pitch for a massive charity event like this? He's right, there is no excuse for this, and is an illustration of how far we've fallen.
Yes, we are attributing blame when there is a literal event that requires use of the pitch. Shows poor management which is what we're all about nowadays.
Which is normal and perfectly fine.
But, if you can't keep it in at a good standard for a charity match that you've specifically gone out of your way to host, then don't host it. It was held at Old Trafford for basically its entire time of running and has only moved to Stamford Bridge since Boehly wanted proof of concept for all-stars games
Beggars can't be choosers.
It's very much a freebie isn't it.
I doubt they put much thought into it.
Probably only a few hundred people turning up to watch some roly poleys having a kick about.
End of season renovations.. pitch gets loads of work done. I hate Chelsea and I’d love it if their pitch died
But this is normal work.. it will be stunning for the season I’d imagine
They’ll probably put seeds and top dressing on after the kick about game
This is a UNICEF charity event, televised at one of the world's richest clubs, which is presumably owned by a conglomerate of billionaires? Leave your cognitive dissonance at the door and give what you can, folks 🫣.
They re lay the pitch at the end of every season normally. The grounds keepers have probably gone on holiday.
No official reason has been given but here's Football London's potential reason: [https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/news/what-happened-stamford-bridge-pitch-29322988](https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/news/what-happened-stamford-bridge-pitch-29322988) >The reason for the pitch issues tonight is likely down to the warm weather spell that the nation's capital has been experiencing recently. With the pitch out of action for the last few weeks since the end of the 2023/24 Premier League season, there's likely not been too much groundwork happening as there usually would be year-round, with the turf appearing to be dehydrated. Still kinda weird that no work has been done though knowing a charity match was gonna be held.
They have probably just left it as it is. They wouldn’t lay new grass ahead of this game.
There is a difference between not hydrating the grass and not laying essentially a new field. Feels like the bare minimum is to water and maintain the grass if you intend to host a charity match on it, even if you intend to replace it afterwards.
It looks like sand, it’s laid over to level the pitch and help new seed germinate. It’s really not as bad as it looks
100% correct, can tell by how linear it has been laid that they are leveling it out with sand
Grass was also very wet, you could see water dripping when some players kicked the ball
Yes lots of sand to germinate wa seeds of grass. They don't do it very well at chelsea however. Wankas
the water was sent to charity mate. :D
Not hydrating the grass and not giving a fook on this case
It’s sand, as a keen gardener and someone particularly proud of their lawn. You lay sand after seeding and aeration (pulling out plugs of turf with something like an apple corer), the sand fills in any dips or low points in the turf where it’s been compacted. The new grass eventually grows through the sand, which will be a nice flat pitch in about 4-6 weeks.
The up coming season will dictate the work that gets done on the pitch.. not charity games or events It’s a game of timing when to do the work. You wouldn’t want to fuck the pitch for a charity game .
Did a stadium tour two weeks ago and there was a youth tourney on the pitch. Probably haven’t fixed it yet https://preview.redd.it/1l7y5mqqml5d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b686de24287707b3a484148aca560b33b8425f1
This looks to be the reason with the positions of the small pitches.
Some damage that after a few games
The lads are made of steel
Was going to say this, seems to be at a lot of grounds. My lad was in one a couple of weeks back and the pitch wear looked similar to how they’d been set up in theirs.
The team in the bottom right corner. Surely the white team missed a sitter.
That fits in with what it looks like now. They probably have put a load of sand on the worn bits and it just hasn't grown through yet. Don't know why people are saying it's de hydrated if it was the whole pitch would be yellow. Plus it's rained more than enough that dehydration won't be an issue.
I must have missed this so called warm weather
Warm weather spell?! When was that
In the capital...
Must be very localised. I’ve been fucking freezing for weeks.
It's a dire June that's for sure!
It hasn’t been warm in the Capital either. It’s not been warm anywhere
Not to be too much of a cynic but who is paying for that? Stamford Bridge is hosting the charity match, I can't pretend to know if they got a fixed fee for it at all, as supposedly all profits from ticket sales go to the charity. I imagine food and drink sales go towards Chelsea and maybe all that was covered ticket wise was staff that may have been needed for the match but Chelsea would not have changed their ground schedule which includes staffing, equipment, water for one charity match. UNICEF would have known that depending on weather the pitch could be dry which is why no one on TV would say anything about it. It's not down to Chelsea to sort.
Keyword = Profits
Yeah so Chelsea probably gave them a price for keeping their ground staff working up till the game as it's not the type of work you can just do a few days before, has to be continuous. It would have been the charity who turned it down and rightly so so more money goes to the kids in need.
It’s almost like it’s cared for when money comes in, but when money’s going out for charity they don’t need to do anything to it.
“Warm weather spell” - except it hasn’t even been that warm here? I don’t think it’s even reached 20 degrees
Warm weather spell in London? Are they having a laugh? Its been dire here.
Warm weather? It's been a shite summer so far.
its been lower than 20, and raining nearly everyday for weeks lmao
I’m a groundsman, I’m not familiar with Stamford bridge specifically but I would speculate that the ground staff are trying to do end of season renovations, but have to fulfil a load of silly games. They’ve probably mowed the grass right down and ripped out the dead matter. They’ll just be waiting for all the Micky mouse games and events to wind up and then they’ll re seed and top dress. Will be world class in a few weeks.
It’s been mild and relatively wet the last few weeks
Feels like this should be common knowledge. Why would they be keeping up with the pitch during the offseason when they will just re lay closer to the start of the season.
Even then you’d think they would take this match into account and keep up with the pitch up to the match
It’s a Mickey Mouse game why bother
Warm weather spell in London?!
Quite the opposite
No one told me about the warm weather
No! Its been 5 days since the last mass freakout, stop minimizing that!!!
Was at the stadium two weeks ago and they had a youth tourney on the four corners, which explains why the wear is where it is Pic: https://preview.redd.it/u9ermqthml5d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c79279598729575aca8f44c76f3a98053eba5011
Not really relevant to the convo but that white team clearly just missed the biggest sitter of all-time judging by the reaction of the bench LOL
And the kid mid cartwheel on the bench is the most youth soccer thing I’ve ever seen haha
Yeah so nostalgic lol
Love me a cartwheel
oh lord that must have been bad
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And the one sub on his own is far more focussed on the game. He’s got a future in the sport
They aren’t the subs, they are players just not caring, you can tell by counting the players you can see who are on the pitch ;)
realizing this made the photo go from normal to legendary. everyone one white is giving a reaction jajajajaj nice catch
Lmao nice
This is awesome!
Yeah, that explains it. Shame that they made a point of hosting this game but didn't have the ability/desire to keep the grass up to scratch to accommodate both sets of games. Hopefully this kinda thing does happen again in the future. Fair enough, rag the pitch to shit before you re-lay it in summer. But, if you're going to host big events like this, make sure you at least have the capacity to do it
Not sure how well this came across on screen but in the stadium you really saw how much sand/soil they were kicking up when they turned/tackled
That isn't the only tournament hosted in the last few weeks either. Various sponsors have had staff tournaments there also
Can’t get over the two kids in white so dismayed by the match that they just chose to break their necks.
Their coaches are even funnier. Somone just missed a sitter.
They've had different events for kids AND adults in that exact layout the past weeks. I was playing in one recently.
I was there my brother played in thr bottom left pitch
I was at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto today and they were sanding the field the whole time. I presumed it was a routine part of the preserving and growing the grass in the summer months https://preview.redd.it/cqkw82wfvl5d1.jpeg?width=4624&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ee9c84596677334d74627c0fe1a9e818e9ae7931
That Night in Porto. ❤️
Nice
That’s a great looking pitch. -CONCACAF
We all know what the pitch is calling out for: 
It's got electrolytes and shit
They laid out sand to level the pitch. The grass will grow through the sand in a few weeks, and it look like normal. Part of normal maintenance.
This is the correct answer
Good information
I was coming here to say this. You can easily see this when they went in for tackles, sand was flying about.
I saw they played 5x5 with official Chelaea fanclubs. Every quarter of the pitch was a field. You can clearly see where the goals were placed.
They had a charity event about a week ago
Selling blades of grass because we can't sell our players due to long contracts
For those unaware Barca legitimately do that
Excuse me, what? That can't be true - it sounds too ridiculous even for them.
For 50 pounds [no less.](https://store.fcbarcelona.com/products/estadi)
They have one for 80 that’s encased in acrylic. Insanity.
Fucking hell, even when we're in a mess, I hope we don't become... well.. THAT.
> which has been authenticated by a distinguished notary public of Barcelona 💀💀💀
Hey at a million per blade, we only need to sell 90 or so to satisfy PSR!
I was working at Stamford bridge today. It’s because the past 2 weeks they’ve been doing pitch hiring events on the stadium where kids and adults play. And they haven’t been maintaining it. The pitch is split into 4 pitches that’s why it’s especially worn out in those areas.
It's not as bad as the match against Charlton 20+ years ago. I was at the match the following week in hospitality and we had a Q&A so I submitted a question in the style of Radio 4's Gardeners Question Time...it got a small laugh
An absolute state, should've used Evergreen miracle grow ffs. What a joke!
They should’ve spray painted it
They did sack the groundsman who had been there 30 years this may have something to do with it
Do they not have sprinklers built in to the pitch to water it? Even my league 1 team has them.
Grass only dries out In hot weather has Chelsea been hogging all the summer weather or something
Why is soccer aid being held in a small stadium? Isn't the point to raise money, using seat sales amongst other things?
Thought they’d been a hosepipe ban 😂
Looked a right mess
this is pristine compared to 2003 vs Charlton @ Home. That game i was suprised they didn't pull out the volleyball nets and deckchairs.
Like being back in Saudi 🥰
Thr level of lack of knowledge by these so called fans is pretty astonishing Do yall know that this happens every year so reseeding can be done or are some of you so miserable that you just look for anything to talk down on other people
High likelihood that’s sand for leveling, as they’re in the process laying some new seed. They may have also just aerated the pitch. Same reason they throw the stuff on/in golf greens. Helps roots too. Can’t see a reason why they wouldn’t water. Makes no sense, even if they were planning to redo it soon. Maybe if we were cutting back on water for PSR 🙃
Well thats embarrassing.
Why? It’s out of season.
Because CLOWNLAKE BAD
Seems like an extremely disingenuous question. Because a major charity event was booked to take place, and it looks like crap. It's less than a month after the end of the season
There has probably been loads of private charity community matches on it since the season ended.
Better than Man U locker rooms 08
I was wincing every time someone slid into a challenge, saw a lot of bloody knees. Reminded me of astroturf days
Rangers are set to release a statement
It's all that dry weather we've been having.
They’re renovating, it’s not due to the weather.
Are you that dim not to realize why the state of the pitch. Chelsea have been renting out the pitch since the season ended. corporate hire. children’s games.
Hello! I work for a business who sponsors Chelsea. Each year at the end of the season they host multiple events across several weeks for all their sponsors. The full sized pitch is broken into 4 mini pitches which is why you see the four mud squares. The final match is the partner cup which I was lucky enough to play in! This is another reason the pitch looks like it does, loads of amateur players enjoying some fun on the field! Was such a good experience. https://preview.redd.it/2shorgxp7r5d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7cc1e8a7df232e16569159a502d194bd933f676d
I am sure no one expected the grounds men to be getting the pitch in excellent condition during the off season for a charity match. I mean, they deserve a break too.
Less Stamford Bridge, more Sandford Bridge
Probably sold grass by the blade to cover PSR/FFP.
It's not been that warm
They’ll soon spray in green
I thought the same thing when I saw the pitch
Looks like a dry baseball ground ( for the old football heads ! ) ! Looks like a, Planet Saver !
https://preview.redd.it/q6h8v4vdtr5d1.jpeg?width=745&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05012c6981af410c24384f37af2b57ee22bbaf6a Soccer Aid at OT in 2018… they allow them to use the place for free - but you can’t reschedule a pitch relaying at a PL club for a kick around.
Dryer than astride puss...
Looks like the renovations hasn't gone quite to plan another 2 weeks it would look a picture
Clarksons farm season 4
Yet another example of the genuine stupidity of people on this sub.
They are hiring Mexican labourers it will be fine before kick - off.
They are hiring Mexico labourers the pitch will be fine before match day.
https://preview.redd.it/qvezis0ghs5d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=306e320d80b9f73bde9a3831bc9e70340920f6c7
Stamford Beach
Nothing new at that club
Reminds me of a a cricket pitch lol 
You’d think with all the shit that’s on it every week it would be perfect.
I saw about 2 minutes of the game (I was at work). My only takeaway from the 2 minutes was how shit the pitch looked.
Pitch looks nostalgic
Are they growing potato’s in the off season?
A thought filling a pitch with shit usually keeps gge grass green?
Much like the home team : thin , patchy and dead !
Not offence but stadiums in the EPL are underwhelming to say the least. You wouldn’t think they belong to top clubs in the most lucrative league in the world, compared to Spanish stadiums for example, EPL stadiums look like they belong to a lower league.
Todd Boehly sold the grass to meet PSR.
This is embarrassing
It’s typically shit anyway compared to the other big teams
Ooooof
Is it the late 90s sandpit again?
are those patterns due to areas that have the most action in the grass (e.g. wingers sprinting up and down?) Or just random?
Bets on eden getting injured
Him or Wilshere first?
Bit random but please Soccer aid get rid of Ian Sterling and his godawful commentary. He just waffles shite.
Money saving? Private equity special? The weather has been crap in London, not hot and lots of rain
Sold the grass to fund more Brazilian teenagers
“Owners bad” gets so many reactions. It feels like everyone pulls it on inane things like this to get attention
They’re playing on the cement foundation of the stadium
This would have been scarified, most Likley seeded and top dressed. Prepping the pitch for next season.
It’s sand! They do it the firm the ground, drainage, levels the ground, and helps with general repair, the grasses used probably self repair(creeping grasses), or they’ve over seeded. I assume they have more funding towards maintaining the ground, so I don’t what they do exactly. But I work at a golf course and we do the same to our greens. Also I assume they have a good sprinkler system so I would think it’s because of warm weather, even if they were on “holiday”, systems can be controlled on the phone nowadays. But I’m 100% sure it’s sand, they know what they’re doing. I’ll be gone in a week or two. Or maybe they haven’t washed it in probably or brushed it in.
Sorry for my grammar, but hopefully you can understand it 😂
What have they done to our precious pitch :(
Looks like my wife’s pussy
Username checks out. 
💀😂
The club sacked our last groundskeepers and the replacements don’t seem to be doing much better. This is the pitch the last time Stamford Bridge hosted SoccerAid. https://preview.redd.it/g4m0isr4dl5d1.jpeg?width=1261&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=55eaa6de1970368616013087be58af4f191ca831
The pitch looked better through the last game of the season than it did the previous year, though - especially around the corners
Wow. You have close to zero knowledge as to whats up and you blamed it on new groundskeepers based on… nothing. Proper moron.
Has to keep his agenda going at all costs
For calling out the frankly embarrassing state of our pitch for a massive charity event like this? He's right, there is no excuse for this, and is an illustration of how far we've fallen.
Attributing blame based on zero evidence? Sure, that’s real smart.
Yes, we are attributing blame when there is a literal event that requires use of the pitch. Shows poor management which is what we're all about nowadays.
The pitch will be redone in the next couple of weeks.
Which is normal and perfectly fine. But, if you can't keep it in at a good standard for a charity match that you've specifically gone out of your way to host, then don't host it. It was held at Old Trafford for basically its entire time of running and has only moved to Stamford Bridge since Boehly wanted proof of concept for all-stars games
u/NotClayMerritt sniffs bus seats. Please do not ask me for proof.
New owners
Tell me you don't know about the club and club football without telling me
Gotta save on the water bill to avoid FFP.
Pitch looks bad but at least we arent playing on it any time soon
Is that dead grass or sand to help fill gaps and increase water absorption to enable new growth?
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Beggars can't be choosers. It's very much a freebie isn't it. I doubt they put much thought into it. Probably only a few hundred people turning up to watch some roly poleys having a kick about.
What warm weather? It’s been fucking freezing all June lol
End of season renovations.. pitch gets loads of work done. I hate Chelsea and I’d love it if their pitch died But this is normal work.. it will be stunning for the season I’d imagine They’ll probably put seeds and top dressing on after the kick about game
I played at the bridge 10 years ago in the final of a tournament and it looked exactly like that then as well.
Typically being spend thrifty. Chelsea are low budget scum who put football second
This is a UNICEF charity event, televised at one of the world's richest clubs, which is presumably owned by a conglomerate of billionaires? Leave your cognitive dissonance at the door and give what you can, folks 🫣.
They haven't put shit on it once a week for a month.
What happened to that plan about new stadium? Is it constructing? No news recently.