Taking position as the 3rd highest football league ground in England at 509 feet above sea level (only behind West Bromwich Albion’s The Hawthorns at 551 and Port Vale’s Vale Park at 525) is Oldham Athletic’s Boundary Park. Situated to the north of the town, the ground is a 13,500 all seat venue which plays host to 23 Coca Cola Division 1 games per season plus Carling Cup, FA Cup, Reserve and Youth team cup fixtures and most home games of Oldham RLFC from January to September.
Keeping within the
TAKING charge of the stadium pitch, training pitch and the club’s training ground at nearby Chapel Road is 38 year old Tony Owen, whose previous experience has led him from his North Wales roots, via Myerscough College to Crystal Palace (as Head Groundsman), Arsenal (as Senior Groundsman at the London Colney training ground) and a short spell as groundsman at Bolton Wanderers before arriving at ‘The Latics’ in 2005.
The pitch at Boundary Park is a Desso type, built over a gravel base with excellent drainage characteristics. Constructed six years ago, it holds up well as a dual use pitch for both football and rugby league. The key to using and maintaining this type of pitch is to water them well claims Tony. “It is a bit like a beach - lower down where the water comes in, sand is more solid and won’t shift if you kick it, but further up the beach the dry material is easily moved. The same holds true for a Desso pitch.” This watering tends to make the pitch less prone to being cut up but it does depend on the weather. Tony finds that the more watering, the better the structure. Another key to his maintenance schedule is solid tine coring, which is done when possible. A prime example of this opportune maintenance was on New Year’s Eve. “I was not due to be working but we had a match on the 1st January and the weather did not look good. I came in and multicored the pitch using our
MC10 solid tine machine, which turned out to be the right choice as not only did other professional clubs in the area call games off, but we won five nil against Nottingham Forest!”. Tony explains that although the pitch was not, and is not, looking the best it has ever been the most important aspect he feels is that it is playable during the winter months. Tony relies on his experience and a keen eye on the weather forecast to keep the pitch in the best condition possible. By having set methods to counteract scenarios he is able to achieve a playable pitch, something others are not. With snow forecast he will often leave the pitch uncovered as frost covers are harder to clear, but this will depend on the temperature predicted. The biggest problem encountered with the Boundary Park pitch is Poa annua, an annual meadowgrass that grows rapidly in the top inch or two as organic matter builds up. This grass takes over the ryegrass basis of the pitch and weakens the surface, meaning that the winter months can lead to the pitch deteriorating. “It is a constant battle” says Tony, “with the top of the pitch resembling a plasticine consistency in some areas.” To counteract this problem the pitch is regularly multicored (as mentioned previously) but, on a three-year cycle, the pitch is set upon with a Koro Field Top Maker which removes this layer, leaving fresh soil (minus the Poannua)
to be re-seeded. One drawback of using the Koro is that some of the Desso fibres will be removed and others damaged. “This renovation, although brutal, is necessary” says Tony. “We were worried about the effect it would have on the Desso but it appears to work wonders. I had full support of the club’s Chief Executive, Alan Hardy, when budgeting for doing this, and we tie in the maintenance into the two months after the football season finishes - from around the 21st May to 21st July. We need to have that two month window to allow renovation and to allow re-seeding to take hold before the football season” Tony adds. “It costs us five to six thousand pounds to do it, but it is worth it. It is pencilled in to be carried out in May this year.” This results in Oldham RLFC having to find another pitch for this period.
SO, what is Oldham’s usual maintenance routine on a daily basis? With only three staff for Boundary Park and its training pitch at Chapel Road, time is always of the essence. A hectic schedule of training, matches and maintenance is in place for Tony and his assistants, Warren Caine and Jamie Wright (although Jamie is leaving soon to take over as Head Groundsman at Blackpool FC). A close knit team at Oldham means that when a job needs doing it gets done. “A sense of ‘Team Oldham’ exists within the club” says Tony, “meaning that help is always at
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