It’s Valentine’s Day and Pitchcare’s Laurence Gale has headed north to the Reebok Stadium to spend the day, and the evening, with Head Groundsman, Richard Norton, as he and his staff prepare the pitch for the visit of Athletico Madrid in the UEFA Cup.
We are reliably informed that he left a dozen red roses and a card on the breakfast table before setting off in the wee small hours!
B
olton Wanderers FC have made it through to the last 32 in the UEFA Cup. This is the knockout stages where teams play each other home and away and
progress via an aggregate score and, if required, the ‘away goals’ rule. Their opposition is Athletico Madrid who are here by virtue of finishing third in their group in the Champions League and, subsequently, failing to qualify for the next phase of that tournament. It is a big night for Bolton.
Realistically, given Bolton’s league form and the quality of the opposition, they are not expected to progress. But that is irrelevant now as the groundstaff prepare for, what could be, the end of their European adventure for some while.
Head Groundsman, Richard Norton, has been with the club for sixteen years starting at Bolton’s former ground, Burnden Park, their home for 102 years, before moving into the stunning Reebok Stadium during the 1997/8 season.
Over the years Richard has built up
an experienced team of staff to look after Bolton’s three facilities; The Reebok, the first team training ground at Chorley and the new Academy training ground at Lostock. Richard is responsible for overseeing all areas, liaising with his staff on a daily basis to resolve any problems and supply all materials required. He has seven full time staff, and a further eight part time staff who help out during match days. The Reebok pitch is maintained by Mark Sinnett and Calum Bunce. Chris
Simm and Nick Regan look after the First team training ground whilst the Academy training ground is maintained by Gareth Lester, Mick Steel and Niall Hazlehurst Last year the Reebok pitch was
reconstructed, replacing the old FibreSand pitch with a Desso Grassmaster system. Richard also took the opportunity to upgrade his irrigation system by installing infield pop ups. The system now totals seventeen stations; fourteen surrounding the pitch and three paired heads are situated within the playing surface. These have improved the efficiency of watering the playing
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