Southampton FC’s St Mary’s ground is set to become the first football stadium in Europe to install LED floodlighting to comply with Premier League requirements for a higher level of light output.

Read on: 64 years ago, Southampton’s football ground The Dell made history as the first club in England to have the luxury of permanent floodlights installed. On 1st October 1951, Saints supporters were treated to the delights of Saints’ reserves v Spurs reserves in a Football Combination Friendly, as the Dell became the first British venue to host a competitive match under floodlights. Over the ensuing years, die-hard fans may (or may not) have welcomed watching the trials and tribulations of their favourite club whatever the time of day or night. Now the Saints are about to introduce another dimension of clarity by installing Europe’s first LED football floodlight system.

Stadium Facilities Manager Mark Humby says “we have worked very closely to make sure we reach all the technical criteria stipulated by the Premier League. It has been a frantic but extremely interesting four months. Our first issue was to make sure the stadium roof structure could take the added weight of the new floodlight system required to produce the correct lighting levels.”

Flickering was also a potential issue, as Premier League regulations stipulate that clubs’ floodlights have a flicker rate no higher than 6 per cent – an ambitious target designed to eliminate flicker on recorded footage . Testing on Saints’ new system has recorded a rate of just 0.2 per cent, which will result in crystal clarity both live and on screen.

Delivered by UK-based lighting developers Vision Accendo, as well as providing a higher quality of broadcast lighting, the new system will significantly reduce the amount of energy used when compared to traditional metal halide floodlights.

Sources:

1. Lighting.co.uk:
   Southampton FC LED lighting.
2. The Construction Index:
   Pioneering LED Lights.