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Huddersfield boss slams state of John Smith’s Stadium pitch

Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner was left angered yesterday (Wednesday) after his team was forced to play on a pitch that he felt had been significantly damaged by a recent Little Mix concert.

The pop group played at the venue on July 15 and Wagner was not happy with the state of the John Smith’s Stadium pitch some 10 days later, labelling the situation as “unacceptable”.

Premier League club Huddersfield defeated French Ligue 1 outfit Olympique Lyonnais 3-1 last night but the Yorkshire Post newspaper reported that one area of the pitch appeared “discoloured and threadbare” following the Little Mix gig.

“This is not good,” Wagner told the Post. “It is not how it should look for a Premier League side. There are other people at our club, Julian Winter the CEO for example, who have to take care of this and have those conversations.

“But this is not satisfactory and not what I expect when we play in the best and biggest competition in the world. It is unacceptable. We have some very good people at this club who will take care of this issue. But I am anything but happy that is how it is. Obviously, someone made a big, big mistake.”

Huddersfield’s 2018-19 Premier League season kicks off with a home match against Chelsea at John Smith’s Stadium on August 11. The stadium has a seated capacity of 24,000 and also serves as the home of rugby league team the Huddersfield Giants. Around 28,000 people attended the Little Mix gig, a significant number of which were standing on the pitch.

Image: Dom Fellowes