Alan Ferguson prepares an extensive renovation document for every pitch under his control. That way the management of the club are left in no doubt about his concerns, the work he would like to carry out and the ‘hoped for’ budget. Here, we reproduce his document for the stadium pitch, written in the early part of this year
Renovation of Portman Road Stadium Pitch
THE stadium pitch is heading for a final season total of around 51 games. Once again the football in the stadium this season has been a mix of first team, reserve, and youth with the three local finals and a national final scheduled again before the middle of May. The pitch made good progress last season. The absence of a major concert allowed the pitch the full summer to regrow. I feel it has been one of the main reasons for its good condition this season. Following the mid season re lay in December 2006 the pitch has made steady progress. The most pleasing aspect for me would be the stability of the surface.
As usual, at the time of writing the
renovation specifications, the pitch has hosted around 33 games for the season. Up until the middle of December the pitch was not only playing well but also was looking well. Despite the harsher winter this season the pitch continues to play well. The main aim of any groundsman is to ensure the pitch plays well, with the other main characteristics of ball roll and bounce being present as well. Only some minor aesthetics remained to be addressed in the tunnel corner. An incredible amount of handwork saw the pitch ready in full by the end of August.
The pitch still remains one of the oldest
in the top two divisions and is past its sell by date. Managing the pitch in the current stadium environment is becoming harder as each season goes on. Despite the pitch looking well until the middle of December, the effect of the absence of light in the stadium to promote decent growth was showing itself early in the New Year. Our homemade light rig has helped to hold a cover in the south goal. In the present climate we cannot afford the rigs currently being used in some of the Premier clubs. Despite having the pitch cover system to ensure the games were played, the cold, wet weather saw us cover the pitch five times over Christmas and the end of January. The wear of the sward was accelerated during this time, but we have still retained a good cover. A big part of our problem during this dark period is the amount of football played on the pitch. If the pitch is to be preserved, during this time, for the first team, then we
might look at playing reserve games on the training centre from October to mid March. I would also advocate a winter break for
the youth cup competition. The manager is keen to have players not involved in the first team to play in the stadium to still make them feel part of the set up. I support this fully, as I always have, but I feel we have a situation where we cannot have our cake and eat it. We can play the games as we do at present, but the downside will be the thinning out of the sward. Moving the reserve games out for four months will dramatically reduce this. If we continue to play the games, and don't fancy the thinning out, then the only way we can compensate for the loss of light is to replace it artificially. It has to be remembered, as we developed the stadium to its present form, the pitch did not develop at a pace with it. This season I have started to look at a
new growing medium called Fibrelastic. Fibrelastic can give a rootzone added strength without going too hard. Its inclusion may see the need to only partially reconstruct the pitch as it is added as a root reinforcement and only needs to be applied in the top 100mm. This could reduce any works by around £100K. Aside from the lights we can improve the environment during the growing season by ensuring the South stand roof is kept clean. The translucent sheeting on the roof is amongst the best on the market. If it is not kept clean then the UV rays vital for the growth of green plants will not get through to the grass, restricting its development. The roof has never been cleaned since the stand was built despite requests from our department. Despite the dense make up of the main pitch the further addition of gravel bands last summer has seen an improvement in the condition of the west wing. If we go ahead and purchase the vibra sandmaster or similar machine, then it is my intention to groove the main pitch as part of its summer renovation. Any means of moving water through the top will help the surface. The reinforcement in the turf used to aid
harvesting has given the pitch added strength. This has helped to reduce the size of damage on the surface during games. The manager is keen to retain as level and
well grassed a surface as possible and the turf management programme for the next season is geared to deliver that. It is still my opinion that we need to reconstruct the main pitch in order to bring it into line with the stadium and other top clubs in the country. The costs for such a change still remain at around £500,000. It would be good to have a meeting with the professional coaching staff ahead of the end of the season to gauge their opinions and help with fixture planning for the 2009/10 season. Verti cutting: The pitch to be verticut using the Koro field topmaker fitted with the verticutting reel, cutting at 34mm centres working to depth of 5mm max. All debris to be removed from site. Sand Grooving: The pitch to be grooved using 90 tonnes of sand. The grooves to be inserted at 1m centres 25mm wide x 250mm deep. Topdressing: 29 tonnes of sand to be applied evenly over the surface to reinstate the levels. The sand to be worked in by either the drag brush or level lute. Koro recycler: The Koro recycler to pass
over the pitch digging at 150mm. Hollow coring: The Wiedenmann to pass
over the surface fitted with 12mm coring tines coring to a depth of 150mm. Core recycling: The cores and all loose
material to be mixed on the surface using the core recycler. This to be done in as dry a condition as possible. Once recycled the material to be worked in using the drag brush or the level lute. The Litamisa to pass over the surface to clean off all debris following this ahead of seeding. Pre seed Fertiliser: 11 x 25kgs pre seed
fertiliser (8:12:8+2%mg) to be applied one week ahead of sowing. Seeding: The pitch to be oversown using
the following mix - 30% Grande Rhizomatous Tall Fescue, 20% Scorpiones Tall Fescue, 25% Greenfair perennial rye grass, 25% Action perennial rye grass. The seed to be sown at 35grms per sq mtr using the verti seeder. Second Renovation: A second renovation will be carried out following any concert. The same specification to use as per the Rod Stewart concert. All costs to be borne by the event. All specs for pre concert and post concert held on file.
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