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DRAINAGE
Philip Dixon Contractors Ltd Established 1978
Sportsturf Drainage Specialist Drainage Construction Renovation Miles Drainage Limited
Quality Land Drainage Systems for Sports Pitches, Golf Courses and other Amenity Areas
Slitting Banding Maintenance
Tel 01772 877289 (Preston, Lancs) Email:
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•Advice, design and installation •Piped systems •Sand Slitting •Gravel Banding
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Traditional drainage and Lytag banding of greens and fairways
Tel: 01785 812706
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Appley Bridge, Wigan, Lancashire WN6 9DT
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Football
A BAPTISM OF SNOW!
Laurence Gale MSc meets Lee Williams, the new boy at Oldham Athletic FC
or many football club groundsmen the period between Christmas and the New Year is usually a busy time, with a glut of fixtures to accommodate at a time when their pitches are most vulnerable due to the poor weather and low light levels. This winter has been even more challenging, with the arrival of the worst snow falls and heavy frosts experienced for decades.
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DRAIN TODAY - PLAY TOMORROW
The fixture programme was decimated and those clubs reliant on frost covers, and little else, simply had to grin and bear it. One such club was Oldham Athletic who, under the leadership of newly appointed Head Groundsman, Lee Williams, was faced with over 150mm of snow on the stadium pitch and training grounds. The ‘Latics’ were unable to train on their Chapel Road or Little Wembley training ground pitches, having to resort to indoor facilities - not a favourite surface for professional players! Latics manager, David Penny, admitted that it was “an absolute nightmare. Training is, obviously, vital and being stuck indoors is about as far from ideal as you can get.”
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“When the harsh weather arrives we have four basic options open to us” said Lee. “One, to leave the pitch alone to thaw out in its own time; two, to clear it ourselves with shovels and then leave it to thaw; three, to clear it and then cover it with heated frost covers to try and get the frost out; and four, to bring in a heated dome to defrost it and clear the snow all in one go.”
blankets also come with a financial cost.”
The cost-benefit analysis is a far from simple one, and Lee has been in constant communication with a host of specialists, both local and national, to determine the best course of action for the future.
I caught up with Lee on Friday 15th January. At that time there was still 150mm of snow on the Boundary Park pitch. His priority was to get the pitch ready for the Wednesday night game against Tranmere Rovers.
“The ideal option is four, but the reality is the cost of that is pretty prohibitive, so we are left with one, two and three. Two and three carry a risk, in that you have to be on the pitch, digging, walking, dragging covers and pushing barrows and that, obviously, puts a strain on the pitch that we would like to avoid. Then, the heated
As luck would have it the ‘big freeze’ became the ‘big thaw’ as the forecasted rain came to his rescue. By Monday morning all the snow had melted, leaving the pitch ready for match preparations. Being a free draining Desso sand based pitch helped enormously, leaving Lee with the job of brushing, firming up the pitch and marking it out. 3000 spectators watched a less than thrilling 0-0 draw, but the revenue to the club, who hadn’t played a home game since 12th December, was very welcome.
The snow cover had incubated some fusarium, but Lee managed to catch it early and spray with Eland, which soon cleared it up. Lee has only been with the club since October, coming back into football after trying his hand at contracting, working for Greendale Field Maintenance. Lee had previously worked as a head
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