UK autonomous technology company GroundWOW, the recipient of TheStadiumBusiness Innovation Award in December 2021, has teamed up with the English Football Association (FA) to celebrate the 10th anniversary of St. George’s Park.
GroundWOW used its SFX Ultra model to print a commemorative design onto the canvas of pitch four at St. George’s Park, which serves as the training base for England’s national teams.
The image was created pixel by pixel and contained the detailed design intricacies of the England badge. The activation measured 21 metres by 17 metres in size.
The design was completed in time for St. George’s Park to welcome the Prince of Wales, who serves as president of the FA. Prince William observed activities across some of St. George’s Park’s 13 outdoor pitches, full-size indoor 3G pitch, and indoor futsal arena to celebrate the occasion.
David Pritchard, GroundWOW’s chief commercial officer, said: “It was an enormous privilege for us to contribute to this event. Our technology is aimed at all sports and so much of our inbound interest has in fact come from football.
“It was a real pleasure to be on site and a great opportunity for us to showcase what we do at the home of the nation’s favourite sport. None of this was lost on the whole team at HQ, all of whom were immensely proud to have helped create this grand-scale art.”
GroundWOW last week claimed the Innovation Award at the Stockport Business Awards, which celebrate business excellence within the Stockport Borough, where the company’s headquarters are based.
GroundWOW has also been shortlisted in the Small Tech Company of the Year category at the Prolific North Tech Awards, which celebrate the innovation of the northern tech sector. The winners will be announced at Manchester’s Hilton Deansgate on October 27.
The company has also been nominated in the Sports Technology of the Year category at the Sports Business Awards alongside Warner Bros. Discovery, Hawk-Eye Innovations, LiveScore, Singular.live and Supponor AIR. This ceremony will take place at the Kia Oval on November 18.
Last year’s win at TheStadiumBusiness Awards was one of 11 innovation awards picked up by GroundWOW. Tony Rhoades, founder and chief executive of GroundWOW, said the latest nominations are a result of “a great team effort, driven by relentless pursuit of goals, sacrifice, and going all in”.
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