The condition of Rot-Weiss Essen’s stadium turf is causing a stir. In a statement, the club clarifies the causes and hopes for improvement by the Münster game.

The pitch in the Hafenstraße stadium is once again an issue for Rot-Weiss Essen. Already in parts of the past season, the green was in a questionable condition. A turf replacement during the summer break has so far failed to bring the hoped-for improvement.

On the contrary: at the home game against Erzgebirge Aue (1:1) last weekend, there were sometimes large holes in the pitch. The club was ridiculed and the pitch even caused two injuries. On the Bergeborbeck side, captain Felix Bastians was hit, and afterwards he was angry about a “shitty pitch”.

Meanwhile, the process of coming to terms with the incident, as announced by Essen CEO Marcus Uhlig, has begun. RWE and stadium owner and operator GVE have already met to analyse the situation, the club announced on Thursday.

Measures have been agreed to improve the root resistance of the subsoil – in time for the derby against Preußen Münster next Sunday.
At the beginning of next week, a final assessment of the situation will take place “in order to make a final evaluation of the subsoil based on the findings after the Münster home game and to coordinate the further procedure until the following home game three weeks later against Regensburg”.

The Red-Whites also commented on the causes of the problem. Above all, the “exceptionally long periods of rain in July and August” had ensured that turf sown in June had not grown together as quickly as hoped. “A lot of rainfall combined with little UV light delayed the growth phase very significantly.”

The club dismissed criticism that the turf was unusually seeded and not laid in turf. It said the approach had been based on several independent expert opinions. “And even now, this decision is basically considered the right one. “