“Does this industry really need another bloody
B ack in May 2005,
coincidentally on the day my granddaughter was born, I attended an interview at Pitchcare’s headquarters in
Wolverhampton - wearing a pink shirt in honour of the new arrival! I already knew Dave Saltman from my association with Turf Professional magazine, which I had helped launch back in 1999. Pitchcare existed as an interactive website for groundsmen and greenkeepers, with a then membership of just over 14,000. It had been launched in 2001 by Dave and former Wolves striker, John Richards, and proved instantly popular with turfcare folk.
magazine?”
To mark its fifth anniversary, Peter Britton charts the success of the Pitchcare magazine since its launch in June 2005
My remit was to launch a Pitchcare hard copy magazine. I had been suffering some ill health and, at the time, the opportunity to work from home was important to me, and proved even more so in the years that followed. So, armed with a copy of the BTME and Saltex catalogues, I began to compile a database of companies and contacts. Many, of course, I already knew. We had decided that the magazine would be bi-monthly and that the launch issue would be June/July, to be published at the end of June. This gave me just over four weeks to put the first one to bed!
In time honoured fashion, I contacted my database in alphabetical order,
The views of our readers
“I think the magazine is very good and is probably the best of them all. So it is needed and enjoyed by myself and my staff.” Ewan Hunter, Grounds Manager Nottingham Forest FC
“Congratulations on your 5th Anniversary. Good to have a magazine with a broad content and interesting articles.” SISIS Equipment (Macclesfield) Ltd
“Five years eh, doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun!” Steve Mitchell, ABR Publicity
wishes and good luck for the next five years, and beyond!” David Hart and the John Deere team
“Congratulations on making it so far, so well, while remaining challenging, informative and supportive of the industry. Best
“With its widespread and diverse readership, Pitchcare has certainly helped get across to groundsmen and greenkeepers of all levels the importance of grass seed selection in producing quality surfaces - something that is welcomed by
us as a serious grass seed breeder. Well done to all at Pitchcare for making the magazine such a success and we look forward to continuing to work with you to promote this vital message.” Jayne Leyland, Barenbrug Research and Development Manager
“Congratulations on your 5th anniversary from everyone at Campey Turf Care Systems. We are very happy to have been involved with the Pitchcare magazine from its first issue. We are very pleased too, with
the professionalism and topics covered, and to see it develop into one of the best editorials.” Campey Turf Care Systems.
“Congratulations to everyone at Pitchcare magazine on your 5th anniversary. Continue the good work and keep providing the interesting and informative articles that help to promote best practice within the turf care sector. We look forward to celebrating your 10th anniversary.” Ransomes Jacobsen
“Bayer Environmental Science would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Pitchcare on the 5th anniversary
outlining what we hoped to achieve and sourcing support advertising. One of the first people I spoke to was Harry Jurgens of AFT Trenchers whose comment was; “Does this industry really need another bloody magazine?”
No, it did not need another magazine full of press releases and self promotion but, what it did need, in our opinion, was a magazine dedicated to groundsmen and greenkeepers, highlighting the work they do and the issues they face on a day- to-day basis. More FHM than IOG was how I tried to explain it. More by chance than design, the England cricket team were about to set off on their ultimately successful 2005 Ashes campaign, so our editor, the
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