CHAPEL HILL – The presence of Chelsea FC and Wrexham AFC meant a major international soccer event this week in the Triangle.
It came with an overhaul of Kenan Stadium on the University of North Carolina campus.
In order to play Wednesday night’s match, the stadium’s field was covered with natural turf over the artificial version that was put in place a few years ago at what’s normally an American football venue.
Chelsea is an English Premier League team and Wrexham is a Welsh team. That match serves as the lead-off to the 2023 FC Series.
This marks the first international soccer event at Kenan Stadium. Chelsea and Wrexham came together for their first meeting since 1984.
“I’m learning about how popular they are,” North Carolina football coach Mack Brown said of endorsing the event to be played on campus. “I thought it was a no-brainer. It was a win-win-win from all angles.”
The stadium transformation began a week before the match. More than 1.5 million pounds of sod arrived from a farm outside of Charlotte. More than two dozen workers assisted with the installation of nearly 100,000 square feet of sod.
After the game, some of the sod might be used for other spots on campus.
Installing sod over artificial turf has become a regular occurrence as more international soccer events are coming to American stadiums made for football with helmets and shoulder pads. In advance of last July’s Florida Cup matchup between Arsenal FC and Chelsea FC, Orlando’s Camping World Stadium brought in 103,000 square feet of Bermuda grass sod. Closer to home, last month, Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium hosted a pair of Gold Cup matches, between the U.S. and Trinidad & Tobago and between Honduras and Haiti. It’s the second time in two years that the home of the Panthers has undergone a field transformation for international soccer. Sod was brought in for last July’s game between Charlotte FC and Chelsea, as well.
Despite complaints from Panthers players about the quality of the turf at Bank of America Stadium, there were no plans to leave the grass field installed on a more permanent basis either time it was brought in.
Chelsea will once again be playing on an imported temporary grass field in North Carolina when it faces Wrexham on Wednesday.
Chelsea won the IFA Club World Cup in 2022, adding to its credentials that include five Premier League championships.
Wrexham has gained a cult-like following in recent years after the team was bought in 2020 by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The team will play games against Chelsea, Manchester United, LA Galaxy II and Philadelphia Union II at venues in North Carolina, Los Angeles, San Diego and Pennsylvania as its celebrity owners try to stir up American interest in the team. Wrexham has also signed a number of high-profile deals with commercial partners, most notably United Airlines.
With a crowd of about 50,000 expected to be on hand and with many of the spectators not normally visiting Kenan Stadium, traffic alerts went up for the Chapel Hill area in advance of the game. The university is renting the stadium for the match.
Brown said his permission wasn’t needed in order to have the contest conducted in the stadium. But he sees many benefits coming from it.
“With me being all in, it really helps me feel great that I’m helping other programs,” Brown said. “It’s a great revenue producer for the university. I thought it was an unbelievable opportunity.”
North Carolina women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance said this spring that having a match of this magnitude on campus should be a significant boost to the soccer programs at the university.
“We’re absolutely going to use this in recruiting,” he said.