“It’s always good to have people that keep the faith, and stick with you. Keith Kensett has been one of those guys, and I
Kensett Sports koroing off the stadium pitch and, left, decompacting the training ground goalmouths
suppose it helped that he’s a Palace fan himself”
”We’re exposed to the elements here,” says Mark. “But, on the positive side, we don’t have any problems with air circulation like some modern stadia.” Years before multi-use venues became the norm, Selhurst Park was playing host to both Wimbledon FC and Charlton Athletic FC, who used the site for home matches at various times from the mid- 1980s until 2003. As you’d imagine, when as many as three games were played on it in a week, the pitch proved difficult to manage at times. Although, by the time Mark arrived,
challenges emerged. “We, like other departments, have to cut our cloth accordingly, and we were faced with a few problems last season, finding suppliers being one of our most troubling,” he reveals. “Once people find out you are in financial difficulties, they don’t want to deal with you.” Some take the longer view though, and Mark is fulsome in his gratitude for the help that one key contractor provided when all seemed lost. Staring at the prospect of an end of season without a pitch renovation, Mark has nothing but praise for Keith Kensett, who set about the task without any clear prospect of being paid for his troubles. ”Luckily, we’ve been fortunate to have
Keith help us out a lot last season. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have been able to do many of our renovations, including the koroing, which we have ‘off pat’ now,” Mark discloses. “It’s always good to have people that keep the faith, and stick with you. Keith has been one of those guys, and I suppose it helped that he’s a Palace fan himself.” Selhurst Park has gained notoriety as one of the windiest venues in the football leagues, a dubious honour, due largely to the stadium’s history. Constructed in 1922, it was built out of a former brickworks after being bought from the Brighton Railway Company for £2,570. Designed by Scottish stadium architect,
Archibald Leitch, it was built by Humphreys of Kensington for around £30,000 and officially opened by the Lord Mayor of London on 30 August 1924.
46
Palace was the sole user and he was pleasantly surprised by what he found. “Construction of the pitch was, in fact, very good when I took over. The dual usage did not have too adverse an effect, but one of the problems I did inherit was a significant proportion of Poa annua in the sward.”
He’s well versed in dealing with the weed grass now though. “We usually know to expect a surge in the third week of August, so are able to take the appropriate measures,” he explains. Mark controls the invasive species with
a treatment of growth regulator Primo Maxx, applying the chemical monthly throughout the season and cutting before the annual meadowgrass has the chance to seed. The Fibresand pitch he inherited, installed in 2001 by Premier Pitches, is still in place, and Mark believes it is suited to the weather conditions and unique microclimate in the stadium. “As we’re an extremely windy site, we have no problems with airflow but, in the summer, the warm winds provide ideal conditions for disease to spread,” he adds. “About five weeks after the post-season sowing, leaf spot starts to show up on the sward as the grass growth accelerates. Leaf spot can be tricky, as not everyone knows how to diagnose it correctly. The grass appears wilted, so some groundsmen will often water and feed the turf, which only exacerbates the problem. My solution is to apply Primo Maxx first, then Chipco Green, through the spring and summer, and Daconil in the winter.”
The post-season work begins in earnest
after the last home game and the club’s various corporate commitments, which include a marquee erected on the pitch for two weeks, hosting both the player of the year awards and local business events.
This year, reseeding was late because of the uncertainty over if and when a buyer would emerge. The process finally got underway on 28th May, using a DLF Pro 81 seed mix, one that Mark favours for its fast germination. “We only had six weeks to get the seed established before the first home friendly match against Chelsea,” he explains. “That was a tough call, but the club needs the money. I tend to stick with what I know when it comes to seed. There’s really only a fag paper between the major producers so, for us, given our tight margins, a rapidly germinating seed that turns around quickly will get my vote every time.”
He usually aims to achieve a five-day establishment, yet he tends to force the grass through a little in the pre-season preparation, especially if certain areas of the pitch need thickening up. “The goalmouth at the Holmesdale
Road end causes us most problems, as it’s in shade nearly all the time, so the grass struggles there - and we cannot run to the expense of grow lamps like Premiership clubs can.” Ironically, the support of the loyal
Palace fans merely aggravated the issue, he reveals. “They protested over the possibility of club being liquidated, and all their jumping up and down at that end of the ground resulted in compaction in the goalmouth.” If it doesn’t rain it pours.
My thoughts turn, once more, to the windiness of Selhurst Park as I note the build-up of litter around the pitch perimeter and, what I take to be, the three-foot high fence erected to stop it blowing onto the playing surface. ”No, this is an electric fence to keep
the foxes off the pitch,” reveals Mark. “It maddens you when you arrive in the morning to find they have dug up the surface all over the place. Their urine burns the grass too. Urban foxes are a fact of life, so we had to take steps to nip the problem in the bud. I bought the
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