On the night shift ...
Dan Duffy, Head Groundsman at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea, is renowned for his early starts, as our editor found out to his cost!
I
received a phone call from Dan Duffy, the Head Groundsman at the Liberty Stadium, inviting me to attend Swansea City’s final match of the season against Sheffield United, and to see, first hand, how the groundcare team go about preparing for match days. My previous visit was back in 2005, to report on the development and construction of the then brand new stadium, home to both Swansea City FC and the Ospreys rugby team. Some six years later, Dan is still in
charge of the pitch, and has also been nationally recognised for his hard work and dedication in producing one of the best playing surfaces in the country - Championship Groundsman of the Year 2008/09, Professional Groundsman of the Year 2008/09, Sportsturf Management Team of the Year 2009 and a finalist in the Groundsman’s Groundsman of the Year 2010. Over the years, he has built up a great
relationship with fellow professional groundsmen, particularly Dean Gilasbey
who, at one point, was his assistant at the Liberty Stadium, before moving on to take up the post of Head Groundsman at the brand new Llanelli Scarlets Stadium.
He has always been keen to pass on his knowledge and expertise to all the staff that have helped him, however, in typical Australian fashion, he does not suffer fools gladly and expects very high standards of workmanship. The pitch at the Liberty is a Desso construction. Drainage consists of a primary grid system with 110mm diameter pipes set at six metre centres, overlaid with a 10mm gravel carpet, topped with a blinding layer of 6mm gravel. Over 5,000 tonnes of laboratory tested materials were laid to construct the pitch, consisting of a fully engineered gravel raft with a 90/10 on- site prepared sand and soil profile for the upper rootzone before being sewn with the Desso Grassmaster fibres. The pitch also has undersoil heating to help ensure it remains playable
during periods of heavy frost and, like many clubs, it became a godsend during the bleak winter weather in December/ January, ensuring no games were lost. In times of frost, Dan will drain down the irrigation as a precautionary measure, to ensure he does not lose the use of the system. The combination of using a lighting rig and undersoil heating can dry out the pitch significantly, so it is essential to have water available. “The challenges seem to be ever
increasing, season after season. There’s always something new to bother us. “No two seasons are ever the same; the micro climate in the stadium presents its own set of challenges, along with the changing weather fronts.” Swansea is reckoned to be one of the wettest cities in the UK, with an average rainfall of over 1,000mm. “Temperature fluctuations are also a challenge; the pitch can become quite shaded in the winter months with temperature difference as much as 7°C
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