Foams4Sports designed, manufactured and installed bespoke sports pitch safety padding around the indoor training pitch at Derby County's training ground.
The project involved protecting players from exposed concrete walls positioned just a few metres from the edge of the full size football pitch.
With football safety requirements placing increasing focus on the protection of players around pitch perimeters, Derby County required a purpose built solution that could be manufactured to the exact requirements of their facility.
We delivered the complete project from design and manufacture through to installation, completing the installation in just two days.
The challenge
The indoor training pitch at Derby County's training ground had exposed concrete walls positioned close to the pitch perimeter.
For a professional football environment, hard surfaces in close proximity to the playing area can present a significant player safety concern, particularly where players can be carried beyond the pitch during training.
The existing walls also contained several features that needed to remain accessible and usable after the padding was installed.
These included fire alarms and wall mounted hooks used for elastic training bands.
Rather than using a standard off the shelf product, the padding therefore needed to be designed around the existing structure and equipment.
The solution
Foams4Sports designed and manufactured a completely bespoke perimeter pitch padding system specifically for the Derby County facility.
The padding was manufactured to cover the exposed concrete walls around the indoor pitch, creating a protective barrier between the playing area and the hard surfaces behind it.
Every section was produced specifically for the installation, allowing us to work around the existing features within the walls.
This included creating precise cut outs around fire alarms and accommodating the wall mounted hooks used for elastic training bands.
The finished padding was produced in black using our heavy duty sports safety padding construction.
Heavy duty protection
All covers were manufactured using a lightweight, but shock absorbing foam core wrapped in a bonded tear resistant, FR PVC cover.
This provides a robust and durable covering designed for demanding sports environments, where padding needs to withstand regular use while continuing to provide protection around the perimeter of the pitch.
Designed, manufactured and installed by Foams4Sports
One of the advantages of working with Foams4Sports is that we can manage the entire process in house.
For the Derby County project, we:
Designed the padding around the existing pitch and wall configuration.
Manufactured the bespoke padding and covers specifically for the facility.
Adapted individual sections around fire alarms and existing training equipment.
Installed the complete perimeter padding on site.
The installation was completed in two days, minimising disruption to the training facility.
The result
The finished installation transformed the exposed concrete perimeter around Derby County's indoor training pitch into a padded safety zone.
The bespoke design means the padding follows the requirements of the facility rather than forcing the facility to work around a standard product.
Fire alarms remain accessible, the existing training equipment can still be used and the perimeter is protected with heavy duty sports safety padding.
Most importantly, the hard concrete surfaces immediately surrounding the pitch are now covered with a purpose designed protective solution.
Need sports pitch safety padding?
If your football pitch, training ground or sports facility has hard surfaces close to the playing area, Foams4Sports can design, manufacture and install a bespoke pitch safety padding solution.
We work with professional sports clubs, training facilities, academies, schools and other sports venues to create padding designed around the specific requirements of each site.
From initial measurements and design through to manufacture and installation, we can manage the complete project.
Talk to Foams4Sports about your pitch safety padding requirements.