understand how much money was required to maintain a quality rootzone surface. By talking to each director one on one, and letting my work do the talking, I believe they now have a better understanding about what is needed, why it’s needed and how it’s used. After overseeing the construction of the new pitch, and creating the new surface in a ten week timescale, the first year saw seventy-one games played on it. It was very hard to maintain the quality of the surface, especially as I work on my own, but my efforts were rewarded when I came second in the FA Non League Groundsman of the Year 2006/7. Not only was this a huge personal reward and incentive for me, but it also made the Board members take me and my work more seriously. We currently have a groundshare deal with Gloucester City Football Club (who play three leagues below us) due to their stadium being flooded ‘up to the crossbars’ during the freak summer storms of 2007. It does not look like they will be returning to their ground, as it is now a flood plain!
Last season was particularly difficult with three games every week throughout the season. Double headers caused most wear. Between our first team, reserves, ladies team and Gloucester City, the pitch had to cope with ninety-two matches. I was also having to battle though one of the wettest winters on record. Eventually, the club realised my dilemma and purchased a secondhand vertidrain to improve surface aeration. During the wet winter months it was a case of divoting and using the vertidrain when conditions allowed to keep the surface open. This was my only option given the short time period between matches. There was no possibility of postponing matches (apart from two Gloucester City games) and, in the three seasons I have been here, I have not lost a first team fixture. Taking into account that 275mm of rain fell in three months, I got through the packed fixture list, albeit with only 40% grass coverage left and poa appearing in the bare soil.
The heavy rainfall highlighted that the new pitch’s drainage was not doing its job, with water ponding in localised areas, even after installing sand banding in May 2007. So, I asked Dr James Welsh of TurfTrax, who had been involved in the initial design, to make an assessment and offer possible solutions.
He found that the surface was holding water under tension. This happened in the small pores found in a clay soil and water was not passing into the coarser pores (sub soil) and the lateral drains. There was insufficient hydraulic draw
The role of the modern day groundsman has a direct impact on the success or failure of the club
from the gravel banding through the natural stoney bash that made up the sub-soil. The high clay content soil had also given the grass extra health problems with outbreaks of anthracnose, leaf spot and red thread; these diseases occurred regularly due to the compaction and high levels of moisture held in the upper rootzone.
I discussed these findings with the club’s chairman and his response was straight to the point: “You have identified that the drainage we installed does not work as we expected it to. We have the desire to keep learning and moving forward and, if we want heavy use of the pitch, get some quotes!” If only every meeting was that easy!
I was soon to find out that new drainage is not cheap! We were short of the amount required by a not inconsiderable 50%! So, to raise the shortfall, we hosted four, day long, youth football tournaments and charged everyone attending £10. Coupled with the end of season presentation evening, we raised enough to bring in specialist pitch contractors. Premier Pitches performed the work. I
pitches - ready whenever you need it!
69
had seen what they had achieved at Cheltenham Town and Bristol City and I have to say their work was faultless - every phone call was answered and they worked endless, unsociable hours to beat the unsettled weather. In May, Pugh Lewis installed further sand slits at 2 metre centres at 45 degrees, 400mm deep, 50mm wide, backfilled with 50mm of gravel (6-3mm) and topped with 70/30 rootzone. The slits were left for thirteen days to settle before Premier Pitches returned at the end of the month to koro off the top 5mm of vegetation and apply 80 tonnes of rootzone. They dragmatted level and overseeded in three directions, at the rate of nineteen bags, sown at 35gms/sq metre using Rigby Taylor R14 rye grass.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140