LED lighting for football pitches must meet a standard imposed by the French Football Federation (FFF). Speqtris Sport supports you in carrying out your project in order to obtain the lighting result, uniformity on the pitch, playing comfort and the best technology for your infrastructure.
Very often, football sports facilities are equipped with “old generation” floodlights (1000W or 2000W Iodide floodlights) positioned on masts of different heights.
These luminaires are very energy-intensive and have a preheating time required before lighting at their maximum potential. This makes them obsolete in view of the capabilities of sports LED floodlights which immediately light at their maximum power, and are much more economical.
We strongly advise you to consult our sports guide to ensure that you have taken all the necessary measures for lighting your field.
Choosing the right LED equipment is important in order to obtain the necessary level of lighting imposed by the French Football Federation (FFF). In addition, this will allow players and spectators to be able to follow the game and the ball well in order to optimize the quality of each match and training session as much as possible.
The Speqtris Sport team will provide you with all its know-how in order to offer the personalized solution(s), adapted to your structure, while respecting and committing to the lighting result to meet the standard imposed by the FFF. For lighting a football field, or large outdoor playing fields, it is important to clearly define the category of the field which will then determine the level of brightness required.
To carry out all of our sports projects, we base ourselves on the NF EN 12193 standard and the FFF lighting guide. It is essential to refer to it in order to provide quality lighting to each sports field while respecting the standards in force according to the categorization of your field.
The French Football Federation provides free access to its official documents referencing the different lighting levels according to the stadium category (E1, E2, E3, etc.), ranging from high-level official competitions to classic training grounds. We also find the uniformity factors to be respected for each category.
The Goliath range of LED luminaires has been specially designed for large areas such as football, rugby or field hockey pitches.
With the highest power among our products, it becomes essential when it comes to lighting large playing areas.
This range, available in 5 powers from 600 to 1800W and with a luminous efficiency of up to 160lm/W, will adapt to all types of terrain in order to provide you with the necessary lighting uniformity depending on the category of game played and the height of the masts in place or to be installed.
For even more adaptability, several optics are available to obtain good uniformity, whether in the goal area, the penalty area or at the corners and touchlines.
Our optics are symmetrical or asymmetrical, the luminaire can be tilted from 0 to 90°, in order to meet all lighting installation situations and to cover the entire playing area.
To calculate the lifespan of a Goliath projector, at Speqtris Sport, we base ourselves on the L70, L80 or L90 standard.
To ensure optimal light output, it is strongly recommended to maintain your projectors. Lights installed outdoors will most certainly be exposed to bad weather. Drops of water having dried, thus creating dust on the projector(s), contribute to accentuating the opacity of the optic(s). This is why we invite you to clean them from time to time to guarantee perfect visual comfort throughout their use.
| Lifespan | at 25°C | at 30°C | at 45°C |
| L70 | 326 000h | 300 000h | 287 000h |
| L80 | 197 000h | 175 000h | 162 000h |
| L90 | 82 000h | 80 000h | 78 000h |
Don’t worry, our lights are IP and IK certified and more precisely IP66 (protection index against humidity and dust) and IK10 (protection index against shocks), so they are not at risk of being electronically impacted by water, dirt and possible collisions due to a badly kicked ball for example.
No worries, with its “Flicker Free” driver, the Goliath eliminates all flickering, thus improving the quality of lighting on site and contributing to the stability of the camera image. In addition, this technology improves the well-being of players and spectators. Flicker Free technology is very useful in high-level stadiums. Vertical light will also be taken into account for television renderings.
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Several layouts are possible for the masts, most often we find layouts with 4 masts, 6 masts or angular. These layouts are the most interesting for a pleasant playing experience.
4-mast layout
With 2 masts on each side of the field, facing each other, this is the minimum layout to obtain a comfortable game view and to the FFF standards. For this type of placement, we recommend high-power luminaires in order to uniformly cover the entire playable space.
6-mast layout
Ideal for optimal lighting. With 3 masts on each side of the field, a wide range of solutions is available to you. Indeed, with a high number of masts, it is possible to install medium-power luminaires in large quantities per mast, high-power luminaires in smaller quantities or even a mix of low/medium and high power. This is the preferred layout for high-level fields.
Angular arrangement
The masts, located at the four corners of the field, can accommodate, in this case, high-power projectors in order to obtain the desired uniformity of lighting, whether on the edges or in the middle of the field.
For large sports fields, football fields or rugby fields, several options are available to you in your LED lighting renovation or installation project:
When relamping (renovating an existing installation) it is important to ensure the following points.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of characteristics to check:
In case of doubt it is imperative to have it checked by an independent body which defines the possibility, the load, and the wind resistance.
For football stadiums, 7 classification levels are listed: E1 / E2 / E3 / E4 / E5 / E6 / E7.
Levels E1 / E2 / E3 are usually intended for very high-level football with stadiums and matches that are broadcast on television (respectively Ligue 1, Ligue 2, and Championnat National 1).
Levels E4 / E5 / E6 / E7, for their part, are grounds hosting Amateur type matches / competitions (respectively Championnat National 2 and 3, Regional, Departmental, Training).
| E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | E5 | E6 | E7 | |
| Eh moy Commissioning |
2 300 Lux | 1 250 Lux | 750 Lux | 400 Lux | 250 Lux | 150 Lux | – |
| Eh moy to maintain |
1840 Lux | 1 000 Lux | 600 Lux | 320 Lux | 200 Lux | 120 Lux | 75 Lux |
| Horizontal uniformity Emin/Emoy |
≥ 0,7 | ≥ 0,7 | ≥ 0,7 | ≥ 0,7 | ≥ 0,6 | ≥ 0,6 | ≥ 0,4 |
| Horizontal uniformity Emin/Emax |
≥ 0,6 | ≥ 0,5 | ≥ 0,5 | ≥ 0,5 | ≥ 0,5 | ≥ 0,4 | – |
With regard to the surroundings of the playing area, in order to allow players and referees to use the entire field, the level of illumination 1.5(2)m back from the touch and goal lines must not be less than 75% of the level of illumination measured at the reference points on the field, i.e. points “bis” on the survey grid diagram.
Sports lighting requires uniformity of light across the entire field in order to have playing comfort for sports practice.
It must therefore meet specific standards:
Value U1 = The old name for the uniformity factor Emin/Emax. The uniformity factor U1 of the illumination, for each horizontal (U1h) and vertical (U1v) plane, is calculated as follows :
U2 value = The old name for the uniformity factor Emin/Emoy. The uniformity factor U2 of the illuminance, for each horizontal (U2h) and vertical (U2v) plane, is calculated as follows :
The CCTP (Special Technical Clauses Book) is a necessary document for any public contract. It allows you to determine the buyer’s needs. For the lighting of football pitch(s), lighting standards must be respected in order to ensure the conformity of each pitch to be lit.
D’après la norme d’éclairage de la Fédération Française de Football :
Catégorie E1 :
Afin de permettre aux joueurs et arbitres d’utiliser la totalité de l’aire de jeu, le niveau d’éclairement à 1,5 m des lignes de touche et de but ne devra pas être inférieur à 75% du niveau d’éclairement mesuré aux points de référence sur le terrain.
D’après la norme d’éclairage de la Fédération Française de Football :
Catégorie E2 :
Afin de permettre aux joueurs et arbitres d’utiliser la totalité de l’aire de jeu, le niveau d’éclairement à 1,5 m des lignes de touche et de but ne devra pas être inférieur à 75% du niveau d’éclairement mesuré aux points de référence sur le terrain.
D’après la norme d’éclairage de la Fédération Française de Football :
Catégorie E3 :
Afin de permettre aux joueurs et arbitres d’utiliser la totalité de l’aire de jeu, le niveau d’éclairement à 1,5 m des lignes de touche et de but ne devra pas être inférieur à 75% du niveau d’éclairement mesuré aux points de référence sur le terrain.
D’après la norme d’éclairage de la Fédération Française de Football :
Catégorie E4 :
Afin de permettre aux joueurs et arbitres d’utiliser la totalité de l’aire de jeu, le niveau d’éclairement à 1,5 m des lignes de touche et de but ne devra pas être inférieur à 75% du niveau d’éclairement mesuré aux points de référence sur le terrain.
D’après la norme d’éclairage de la Fédération Française de Football :
Catégorie E5 :
Afin de permettre aux joueurs et arbitres d’utiliser la totalité de l’aire de jeu, le niveau d’éclairement à 1,5 m des lignes de touche et de but ne devra pas être inférieur à 75% du niveau d’éclairement mesuré aux points de référence sur le terrain.
D’après la norme d’éclairage de la Fédération Française de Football :
Catégorie E6 :
Afin de permettre aux joueurs et arbitres d’utiliser la totalité de l’aire de jeu, le niveau d’éclairement à 1,5 m des lignes de touche et de but ne devra pas être inférieur à 75% du niveau d’éclairement mesuré aux points de référence sur le terrain.
D’après la norme d’éclairage de la Fédération Française de Football :
Catégorie E7 :
Afin de permettre aux joueurs et arbitres d’utiliser la totalité de l’aire de jeu, le niveau d’éclairement à 1,5 m des lignes de touche et de but ne devra pas être inférieur à 75% du niveau d’éclairement mesuré aux points de référence sur le terrain.
For football pitches classified as E1, E2 and E3, the reference photometric survey is based on the grid selected by UEFA comprising 77 measurement points.
Here we present the photometric survey composed of 25 points for football pitches classified as E4 / E5 / E6 / and E7. The values are taken on the ground according to the grid presented below.
The dimensions of a football pitch are quite varied depending on each situation and municipality. Not all pitches necessarily have the same dimensions. This data is very important because it helps determine the choice of floodlights and their quantity to install.
The standard states that the length must be between 90 and 120m and the width between 45 and 90m if the pitch is specific to football or intended for outdoor sports (large play areas).
The dimensions that we find most frequently :
The installation of floodlights, and therefore football pitch lighting masts, should be carried out in such a way that the vertical distance from the axis of the most advanced floodlights (line of lights) is located at least :
12m for E1 levels
6m for levels E2 and E3
2.5m for levels E4 to E7
The maximum inclination of the projectors (optical axis) relative to the vertical must be less than or equal to 70° for all the grounds in order to avoid any risk of glare and also of lighting outside the ground. This can be annoying for the neighborhood or disturb biodiversity.
If this is not possible, the photometric study must guarantee compliance with the maximum GR value (50).
In order to avoid any risk of glare, all our studies take into account the Glare Rating to study and analyze the risk of lighting disturbance.
To limit glare, the glare rate (GR) value must be less than or equal to 50 for pitch categorization levels from E1 to E5.
For levels E1 to E5, the GR calculation is determined according to a grid of 32 reference points specified according to the FFF grid. The calculations are taken at a height of 1.50 m from the ground.
At Speqtris Sport, we mainly use asymmetric optics which allows for better light control. We have little diffuse light off the field and our tilt angles are generally less than 25°.
Linking the LED lighting of your football stadium to a personalized and/or customizable lighting management system, with our VariBOX boxes, will allow you to adapt the light to the use with different brightness levels (Training / Competition) thanks to a system for dimming the power of the projectors.
Discover the VariFOOT, the specific box for football pitches including 2 or 3 brightness levels depending on the categorization, a half-pitch lighting (staggered lighting) or even a clock allowing you to block the lighting on fixed time slots.
What are the recommended brightness levels?
Recommended options for managing a football field
VariFoot – our installation recommendations for football stadium lighting management
As part of a major stadium project, it is current to offer lighting animation to energize the environment and the public. At Speqtris Sport we can assist you with DMX / Artnet or other solutions.
Each football stadium lighting project has its own set of needs, desires and issues. It is therefore necessary to establish a pricing adapted to the solution found and the local implementation.
In order to have a precise pricing, we invite you to contact us by filling out the form on the contact page. Our team of experts, armed with high-performance equipment and accompanied by our specialized design office, will provide you with lighting studies, quotes and any other essential document for establishing an adequate price. No matter where you are geolocated, our sales representatives travel throughout France and internationally to meet you and analyze your sports field(s).
The FAFA (Fédération d’Aide au Football Amateur) invests each year around 17 million euros in aid, provided by the FFF, intended to finance amateur football infrastructure installation projects.
To benefit from it, you must complete a subsidy application at the ANS-FFF one-stop shop made available to clubs, federal bodies and communities.
With over 13 years of field experience and achievements, we have designed here a panel of lighting layouts and installations according to each sport through our sports guide.
This tool will allow you to quickly find the photometric studies corresponding to your project and to define and propose the appropriate equipment for the desired lighting result.
