Kenan Stadium’s playing surface has been artificial turf since 2019. But for a few days this July, the historic stadium will be reverting back to its roots — literally. A temporary grass field will be installed in the stadium for the Chelsea-Wrexham exhibition match.
The practice has become commonplace for American turf fields which host international soccer. Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium did it when the venue hosted Chelsea last summer, and several stadiums around the country will do the same for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be jointly hosted between Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
Gary Paczesny is the Assistant Athletic Director of Communications and Creative Services at Carolina, and this summer has been serving as the local sodfather for the operation. He gave Chapelboro an idea of just how the grass installation will work, and what failsafes are in place should circumstances change.
“It’ll be big rolls. They’re probably about three feet wide by 20 yards long,” Paczesny said. “There’ll be multiple truckloads that come in. They’ll start on [July] 12th and finish on the 13th. If they get any delays, it gives them some time in there. If it’s terrible rain and they can’t lay it on one day, they can adjust the schedule. They’ve built in an extra day.”
According to Paczesny, he received an offer he couldn’t refuse. The grass used will be Tifway 419 Bermuda grass, and it will be provided by the same company which provided Kenan’s grass before 2019.
That switch in the playing surface coincided with Mack Brown coming back to Chapel Hill for his second tenure as head football coach. The Chelsea-Wrexham match and all of its logistical maneuvering will take place less than two months before Brown and the Tar Heels host their home opener, but Paczesny said the Hall of Famer is fully supportive of the event.
“He was totally on board just because of what it does for the community,” Paczesny said, “what it does for showing off Kenan Stadium, a place we get to call home for football games. He’s totally supported it. I think he was more along the lines of, ‘As long as it doesn’t damage the field and doesn’t have any negligent effect on the football program, we’re 100 percent on board.’”
Paczesny said damage to the underlying turf surface won’t be an issue. The layer of grass being installed is close to six inches thick, and heavy enough that it isn’t likely to move or slip during soccer action.
And as for what happens to the grass after the match has ended, Paczesny said the Tifway 419 won’t be sleeping with the fishes. Rather, several plans are in place to ensure the grass goes to use somewhere else.
“I think there’s a few different options,” he said. “It could go onto a campus sod farm for what we need for some of our playing surfaces. It could also possibly be donated. I think some of those logistics are still being determined and managed based on what the need was. I think they’re still trying to figure out what was going to happen for the second life of that grass.”
Seeing natural grass return to Kenan Stadium will be a throwback for longtime fans of the program. Sadly, the beloved hedges which served as both a sideline border and a healthy snack for Rameses will not be there.
Still, there’s plenty to look forward to as we approach this once-in-a-lifetime sporting event. When Chelsea or Wrexham hit the back of the net in front of the Tar Pit or the Blue Zone and slide on the newly-installed grass, they’ll do so in a blaze — sorry, blades — of glory.
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