Pitch perfection as SIS expands to Ardboe

by Gillian McDade

The company which laid the pitch for the 2018 World Cup Final in Moscow is to create a base in Ardboe.

SIS Pitches is one of the world's largest sports pitch companies.

It counts Real Madrid and FC Barcelona among its clients.

Some of its past projects include the Bernabeu and Camp Nou.

The Ardboe operations will be headed up by the company's Sales Director Darren McGeehan, who is originally from Ballinderry.

The company employs 245 people around the world.

It has offices in the UK, Holland, the Middle East, Russia, Turkey and Angola.

SIS Pitches was set up by CEO George Mullan in 2001.

He says the company wants to bring the success that it has had overseas to Ireland, invest in Ireland and hire Irish people.

 “Personally, moving into the Irish market is a great sense of pride and excitement for me. SIS Manufacturing has been supplying synthetic pitches into Ireland for 16 years but now we will now be selling directly to end users, providing a full turnkey service of designing, building, manufacturing, installing and maintaining the pitches,” he explains.

There will also be bases in Greystones, Co Wicklow and Sligo, with the Irish operations being headed up by Darren and Mark Barry, Operations Director.

Darren McGeehan says with more than 25 years’ experience designing and making pitches, they are looking forward to providing a full turnkey service.

Meanwhile, SIS Pitches’ annual results for 2016 show a record turnover exceeding €54 million, making it one of the world’s largest sports pitch companies. Its projection for 2017 is turnover of almost €63.5 million.

Last year, the company installed more pitches than in any previous year in business including the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, where the opening match, a semi-final and the final of the 2018 World Cup will be played.

Pitch looking in good shape for Galatasaray vs Gençlerbirliği at the Türk Telekom Arena today! pic.twitter.com/ivUXViJJgg

— SIS Pitches (@SISPitches) March 11, 2017