new season. Gary stresses the importance of completely cleaning out the Desso. This is achieved using a machine designed by John Hewitt that acts like a rotary rake to remove all debris. It usually takes several passes and several lorry loads are removed. Between 60-100 tonnes of new sand are then spread and levelled and the pitch is then vertidrained in two passes before being oversown with Advanta MM60 at a rate of 35g/m2
.
Work on the training pitches is dependant on what spare money the club has available. Last year the club managed to spend quite a bit on new drainage on one of the pitches, installing new primary and secondary drainage whilst, at the same time, incorporating some 400 tonnes of sand into the soil profile, vertidraining and overseeding. The rest of the pitches were hollow
cored, spiked and dragmatted to return the cores back into the playing surface. It seems to have worked well. The quality of the pitches I saw during my visit was excellent.
Gary is hoping that, when more money becomes available, he will be able to carry out the same work on the remaining pitches.
The staff also look after two third generation pitches at the training ground, one is quite old and due for refurbishment while the other was installed last year. They are used mainly by the academy sides and juniors. Even after twenty years at the club Gary is very keen to improve the facilities further. He hopes to undertake some redevelopment work at the training ground bringing into play three new pitches, plus the installation of a footpath for players and parents which would also provide turning areas for his machinery, thereby reducing wear on the playing areas. Gary is keen on good communication. He believes that building relationships with people, no matter what level they are at, is vitally important. He points out that, when he started at Norwich twenty years ago, there were only ten staff involved with running the club, now
there are over one hundred and fifty! In that time Gary has worked with thirteen managers, every one of them different. During lunch Gary and his staff use the catering facilities at the training ground. It is an opportunity to mix and talk to coaches and players. During my visit Bryan Gunn (a former player and current goalkeeping coach) came and sat with us. He was quick to praise the work of the groundstaff. Working as a football club groundsman is not an easy job. The pressures of producing quality facilities week in week out, within increasingly tight budgets, is challenging to say the least. The key to improving budgets and, accordingly, facilities, is to get the managers and owners to recognise the importance of the surface the team performs on and the amount of work involved. From what I saw, at both the training
ground and stadium, Gary and his team are very passionate about their work and the facilities they manage. The condition and presentation of the pitches was second to none.
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