Magpies - two for sorrow?
So, the last thing Greg Smith, the ‘Magpies’ Stadium Manager, needed was a dump of snow on the Meadow Lane pitch, last December, to exacerbate the problem. And, to further aggravate the pitch issues, the Notts County management took the decision, last year, to ground share with Nottingham RUFC. Greg joined the Magpies in 2000, at the same time as a new fibresand pitch, primary drains (at 3m centres) and a pop-up irrigation system were being installed. Greg had previously spent fifteen years at the Boots the Chemists sportsground in the city, where he looked after cricket, bowls, tennis and winter sports pitches. He was, therefore, highly qualified for his new role. He is assisted by Head Groundsman,
Trevor Hutchinson, who has been at Meadow Lane for twenty-two years. “Having dual usage on the pitch is not ideal,” says Greg, “but, I understand the reasons behind the decision, as revenue is hugely important to the club. As the current agreement is for seven years, it is something we are going to have to get
used to. Hopefully the additional revenue will mean that I can have an increased budget for my renovations.” To date (mid-March), Greg and Trevor have had to accommodate forty-four matches on the pitch. “The snow in December caused no end of problems,” says Greg.
“Our main priority was to ensure that games went ahead. Before the game against the MK Dons, and with snow forecast, we decided to leave the frost covers off, as we felt it would be easier to get the snow off the pitch. Over 150mm (6”) was dumped on the pitch, and it took eight people two days to hand shovel it off, piling the snow into trailers to be taken away.” Their hard work was rewarded though, when the fixture went ahead and the Magpies won the game. “However, a lot of grass cover was lost during the clearing,” says Greg, “which was further compounded by a period of very cold weather, with temperatures as low as minus 19O
C. So, there was little or
no growth and, therefore, no chance for the grass to recover, especially with the
ongoing fixture programme. It’s hardly surprising the pitch looks poor compared to some other pitches in our division.” “There have been times when we have had a football match on Saturday, a rugby match on Sunday and a second XI game on Tuesday. The grass doesn’t stand a chance in those circumstances. All we can do between games is replace divots, perhaps put a bit of topdressing down to restore levels, mark out and mow.” “We do not have undersoil heating, although plans are in the pipeline (excuse the pun) to put in a gas powered system in the future. Neither do we have the luxury of lighting rigs, although we did trial some last year and I was very impressed with their performance. The only protection we can give the pitch is with forty Tildenet frost sheets, but they only work down to about minus 4O
C.”
“Trevor and I have got the football/rugby change over down to a fine art though. We can now take down one set of posts, erect another set and re-
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