ALTRINCHAM’S PART TIME LOVE
using a Koro Field Topmaker. This removed over 500 tonnes of vegetation and soil material to level up the surface. Five metre centre main drains were installed at one metre depth running the length of the pitch. These were back filled with clean washed gravel to within 100mm of the surface and topped off with Whitemoss Latymer soil. The surface was topdressed with 1500 tonnes of medium fine sand, which was blended with five tonnes of Earth-Tec humic powder and five tonnes of zeolite. This was then chain-harrowed into the top 150mm of the surface. A laser grader was used to produce the final surface prior to applying a 6:9:6 pre-seed fertiliser. Eighteen 20kg bags of TT4 grass seed, a blend of perennial ryegrass, were then sown. Two water tanks were installed along with a self travelling sprinkler. The cost of that work totalled £70,000 and, although the club were strapped
for cash, it showed that the management were totally comitted to upgrading the pitch from a muddy mess to one worthy of the Blue Square Premiership. After two weeks germination was good and an application of biostimulants and carbon was given. Mowing was programmed for twice weekly for a period of two months using sharp rotary mowers set at a 50mm.
Neil Brown, the club’s part-time
groundsman and former reserve team manager, and current manager of Abbey Hey in the North West Counties League, undertook the day to day work within the programme. He took over the overall maintenance two years after the initial work was carried out in his first ever job as a groundsman. Being part-time Neil could only spend around twelve hours a week on the pitch, and that included preparing it for match days and repairing any
subsequent damage. Growth was clearly observed
throughout the 2004/05 season. At this time the work undertaken was weekly aeration, mowing and re-marking. Over the following three years, at an
approximate cost of £10,000 per time, the pitch had remedial work carried out, which included additional sand slits, fraise mowing, yearly applications of 80 tonnes of topdressing and biostimulants, overseeding and liquid feeds.
WITH the pitch now looking the best it has done in years, all that is now required is the weekly maintenance. Neil takes up the story from the start of the current season: “After completing our summer
renovations the following couple of weeks were mainly about getting as much water on the pitch as possible. We have two large tanks at the end of the pitch to which we attached our self
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