There was an area laid out with groomed grass, a line 6 yds off of and parallel to the goal-line of each goal. One was on the left post of Blackburn, one on the right post of Man city. It was located between the 6 yd line and the 18 yd line. I saw no other unusual markings. Anyone know what this is, or perhaps it was left over from some other sport?
I'm going to take a stab at it. I watched highlights on the match of footytube.com (the worlds best highlight site, imo), and I CSI'd the situation and deduced that it must be a line for photography set up....this is a wild guess. There are a whole bunch of still cameras set up behind the goal area (not directly behind the goal) and they are remotely operated. I'm guessing that the parrallel line is the line of demarcation for the cameras.
Isnt this the area where some broadcasts superimpose advertisements on the field? This area needs to be a uniform color in order for the logos to show up more clearly, much like the first down line on NFL broadcasts.
That is also a good guess. But, I haven't seen those "first down marker"-type ads on the EPL broadcasts yet.
I saw a UEFA game with ads placed there. GK would walk right over them and distort them when retrieving a ball for a GK. My best guess is that this stadium is equipped for that as well.
True, the line is generated by the camera setup, but the crispness of the line is enhanced by its background (the field). This is why the first down line looks much brighter and distinct on astroturf fields than on chewed-up and faded grass fields. At some soccer stadiums you will see small tarps layed out in the area described in the original post to help improve the on-screen appearance of the logos that are superimposed.