The England football squad will train on a pitch maintained by Bingley turf experts as they prepare for the World Cup this summer.

And the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI), based at the St Ives estate, will act as a consultant to all the other national teams taking part in the South Africa tournament.

Fifa asked the institute to help the teams after being impressed by its work with the Football Association at England’s World Cup base.

Richard Hayden, director of operations at the STRI, has been travelling to South Africa regularly since November. He said: “On the back of the success of the English ground we have been employed assessing and consulting on the other grounds – we are very active with the FA.”

Mr Hayden has worked on several high-profile projects including leading the team that replaced the Wembley pitch last year and the redevelopment of Croke Park in Dublin.

The STRI was also consulted on behalf of Uefa for Euro 2012.

“It is great for Bingley,” said Mr Hayden. “Anywhere you go in the world everybody knows the STRI is based in Bingley.

“It is a huge honour to be involved with the World Cup. Having Franco Baldini (England general manager) speaking about you and the England manager complimenting us on our work is incredible.

“It is probably the biggest thing that has ever happened to the company. We are very lucky. We have 85 staff and it is a huge pool of expertise.”

The STRI will have staff based in South Africa until the end of the World Cup advising on every aspect of pitch maintenance.

Mr Hayden said the pitches need “constant looking after” because they are affected by the weather conditions.