Tributes for Les Simmons
Former Vicarage Road grounds manager, Les Simmons, passes away after a long illness
Les was also quite an innovator, when it came to utilising machinery to help keep the pitch in good condition. Ian Smith, Head Groundsman at St Albans School, began his career working under Les at Watford. “I remember the time he converted a garden rotovator into what you might call a modern day Graden equivalent, to help relieve compaction on the pitch and provide a key for the topdressing and seed.”
ONE of the great characters in Watford Football Club’s history, Les Simmons, passed away on Wednesday 30th December 2009 after a long illness.
Les’s career at Vicarage Road spanned more than fifty years and he was awarded a testimonial game against Arsenal on his retirement by then manager, and current chairman, Graham Taylor, in recognition of his services to the club. He was respected by all who
met him. Elton John and Graham Taylor always spoke fondly of him and knew, as did most of the playing staff over the years, that he was in control of the pitch, and was to be consulted before any activities took place on it.
“On another occasion he buried one of the groundstaff’s radio in the pitch, leaving it blaring away for three days. It was his way of telling us he did not approve of us listening to the radio whilst working!” “I will always be indebted to Les
for giving me the courage to move on to pastures new, and for his continued advice and encouragement.” Tributes to Les poured in to the
Watford Observer, amongst them, former goalkeeper, Steve Sherwood, who said; “As a past player of the club I would like to pay a special tribute to Les. He was a wonderful character and always had a big mischevious grin across his face. I remember well his comments, when I used to dig
the turf to take my goalkicks. A big voice used to boom out from the east stand, “Stop ruining my pitch Sherwood”.” “The game that really sticks in
my mind though, was before we played Sunderland, back in the the first division, in September 1982. The Sunderland manager congratulated Les on the state of the pitch and said “mind you it should be good, the ball’s never on it!”, referring to our long ball game. Les came in and told us his comments and we duly went out and stuffed them 8-0 and, to this day, I believe the scoreline would have been different if not for Les!” Graham Taylor, current Chairman, and manager at the club during Les’s time, said; “Les gave many, many years of service to Watford. He was a great personality to have around.” “The first time I met him was on a Sunday when he came into my office and said “I know you’ve been training on the pitch, and I can’t have that!” I knew, there and then, that I was dealing with a character who was committed to the club.” There was a minute’s silence in honour of Les before the home game against Swansea City.
Penn Pals Article -
Clarification
In the last issue we produced an article, entitled Penn Pals, relating to a visit to Penn Golf Club in Wolverhampton.
We received an outline article from the Head Groundsman, Paul Mills, but we mistakenly combined two of the sentences which then read as if Paul was critical of the condition of the course and habitat he inherited. In fact, the only reference in Paul’s original article related to neglected heathland areas and loss of habitat.
Our statement that read “Paul Mills has a mountain to climb to bring a neglected course back to an acceptable standard” and “Unfortunately, due to serious mismanagement, the course has fallen into disrepair” is not the view of either Paul Mills, or Penn Golf Club.
We apologise for any misunderstanding caused by the article.
MAJOR TDR Roller Mowers
...we do the groundwork
Major Equipment Ltd
WWW.MAJOR-EQUIPMENT.COM 7
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