SECAUCUS, N.J. - Red Bull New York announced today that grass sod will be laid over the Giants Stadium FieldTurf surface for the club's home opener on April 8 against the New England Revolution.
"The FieldTurf at Giants Stadium is unacceptable and there is a growing concern for the safety of our players," said Red Bull New York President and General Manager Alexi Lalas. "This decision reflects Red Bull's commitment to providing our fans with an authentic soccer experience and our team with suitable field conditions."
The Red Bulls, formerly the MetroStars, have played their home games on FieldTurf since the synthetic surface was installed in the facility before the 2003 MLS season. Currently, Giants Stadium is one of two venues in MLS that have a synthetic surface, with the other being Real Salt Lake's venue - Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Grass has been laid over the FieldTurf for three MLS games since the synthetic surface was installed - June 30, 2004 (MetroStars vs. Colorado), May 31, 2005 (MetroStars vs. Chicago Fire) and July 27, 2005 (MetroStars vs. FC Dallas). All of these games coincided with major international soccer events which were being played at Giants Stadium. In these games, the MetroStars held a 2-1-0 record.
