“The work involved installing new irrigation pipe work and fitting six new Hunter 141 sprinkler heads”
Installing new irrigation pipes
We used a controlled release 12:0:10 to try to prevent leaching. This only gave us four weeks before yet more feeds were required.
Academy and Training pitches New irrigation system at work
We had to carry out more intensive work at the academy than normal. We koroed off the upper two training pitches, taking off 40mm due to large areas holding water. These had become over compacted over the years mainly due to the training sessions always being conducted in the same areas. Hewitts installed some secondary sand band drainage at one metre centres, topdressed with 150 tonnes of kiln dried sand, vertidrained and oversowed with Advanta MM 60 seed.
All other pitches, at both the training ground and academy, were scarified, top dressed (60 tonnes per pitch) vertidrained and seeded.
Ongoing maintenance Two men went to mow
Ongoing maintenance regimes are pretty much the same for all the playing surfaces. We have a rigorous programme of cutting, feeding, watering and repairs. The height of cut during the summer is maintained at 25mm and raised, in late October, to around 28 mm. After each home game we go straight out onto the pitch, lift the goals and nets, get the flags in and start repairing the divots. Two of us will then begin brushing the pitch with our Dennis mowers picking up most of the loose debris. The other four will spread out and put back as many divots as possible in the time it takes to brush the whole pitch, which is usually about an hour and half . When this is done we wash down and put the kit away and head home after a long day. On Monday the staff revert to their normal duties working back at their respective facility.
Matt and Ewan - divoted to their work
Matt and I will continue to divot the main pitch and then mow to clean up. The frequency of mowing is dependant on growth and weather conditions. During the height of the growing season we cut every day but, once temperatures begin to drop and growth slows down, we may reduce this frequency to two to three times a week. We try to aerate with the vertidrain on a three week cycle (weather and fixtures dependant). As with all Groundsmen, the weather is the major driving force
Looking in prime condition
determining when we undertake our maintenance regimes. I try to get all the work done the day before a match, with the exception of the final cut (width ways) and marking out.
On match days all six staff go to the City ground to help out, arriving at 8.00am. Two staff begin mowing and, once they have completed the first few bands, we can then begin stringing out and over marking. We use a transfer wheel line marker which we feel gives us the best line. The rest of the staff then start putting out the main goal posts, practice goals and protection nets. By this time, around 11.00am, we then go and get a bite to eat and return about 12.30pm. Once all the pre-match jobs are done, and again depending on the weather and the forecast, we will give the pitch about an hour of water - just enough to keep the rootzone moist to prevent the pitch crumbling - which tends to happen if the fibresand pitch is allowed to totally dry out. Players will then come out to warm up between 2.00pm and 2.45pm. If the weather is hot we may have to reapply some more water after they have finished. Now that we have the new pop ups in the middle of the pitch, we are also able to water at half time. This tends to be when the manager wants extra zip on the surface or, if it’s very warm, we may want water at half time to keep the sand moist. The half time water tends to be middle sprinklers only which cover about 80% of the pitch anyway. The middles come on in two lines of three sprinklers which we put on for about three minutes each. All the staff are on duty when the players come out to warm up - three at each end. We tend to keep out of the way but we will intervene if the players/coaches are doing anything which is detrimental to the pitch or is against the Football League guidelines. We are also there to put back as many of the warm up divots as we can before kick-off and finally to take down, and store away, the portable goals when the keepers have finished their warm ups. We all go back out onto the pitch at half time to divot for fifteen minutes and I will put the water on for six minutes if needed. The new watering system has been a godsend. I am just hoping that we do not get too many requests for
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