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05.06.2025 / English

Pitch of the Year Award: Lilien on the podium

Award for the turf in the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor: A jury of experts from the German Football League (DFL) voted the green at Bölle the third best in the 2nd Bundesliga for the 2024/25 season.

Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor bei Sonnenschein.
Foto: SV 98

Since the 2013/14 season, the „Pitch of the Year“ award has been presented to promote the quality of pitches in German stadiums. In the 2024/25 season, the Lilies‘ stadium pitch made it onto the podium again – for the sixth time overall.

After finishing second in the 2017/18 season and winning the title in 2018/19, the pitch at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor continued to receive high ratings in the following years: second place in the 2019/20 season, third place in 2020/21, and again third place in 2021/22. In the current 2024/25 award, SV 98 and the Heiler greenkeeping team took third place – behind Fortuna Düsseldorf (1st place) and Hertha BSC (2nd place).

Six podium finishes in eight seasons – this is impressive evidence of the consistently high quality that Heiler has maintained for years. For this, they deserve a huge thank you once again. Both the stadium turf and the training ground conditions are consistently of an outstanding standard.

Michael Stegmayer, Head of Organisation of the Licensed Players Department

The award is based on three evaluation components:

  • the “Sports Rating System” (e.g. playability, evenness, turf)
  • the “jury measurement data review” on site in the stadium
  • as well as the seasonal measurements of the self-monitoring by the greenkeeping team

The evaluation is carried out by a panel of experts consisting of three members of the DFL expert commission, which is responsible for ensuring turf quality in Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 stadiums and is also a member of the German Turf Society (DRG e.V.). The awards and certificates will be presented to the winning clubs during the greenkeeper information meeting, which takes place in September.

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