Ben Arthure, Dan Duffy and Dan Kirton
the pitch for matches. So much so that he has become quite nocturnal, often starting in the wee small hours of the morning. “After Dean moved on to the new Scarlets stadium in May 2008, I basically had no full time, experienced assistant or staff until Dan started in September 2010. So I had to approach the job as a one man band, particularly on match days. I coudn’t afford to lose time to any match day nigggles, and I got into the habit of allowing for more hours, just in case. Not taking anything away from my staff, who are hard working, totally dedicated and great guys. We always have a great laugh in each others company, that’s why we all enjoy it so much.”
And woe betide anybody who goes on the pitch without first asking! Dan likes to keep as much activity off the pitch as possible. With both Swansea City and the
Ospreys utilising the facilities, a busy match schedule is inevitable; this year, to date, Dan and his staff have hosted over forty-two games and numerous training sessions. “Although our game numbers are down this season, we had an incredible eighteen weeks from mid November through to mid March - twenty-two games in total - some back to back - plus six rugby training sessions and more kicking sessions. It took its toll on us! Dan described it as intense, I say relentless! But, whether this is good or bad, we did have a tired looking pitch for the South Wales derby against Cardiff in early February which, to me, was a shame. The guys worked tirelessly and we all pulled together, which proves to me that this is the best groundstaff team in the country. I love these guys!”
Dan Duffy inspects the pitch - at 3.00am!
During the course of the season, they also get a number of back to back games; football on Saturday and rugby on Sunday, so pitch changeovers have to be quick. Football posts are taken down and rugby posts erected as soon as the football match is finished. The pitch is divoted, cleaned up using the pedestrian rotaries and re-cut and marked for rugby. Football pitch lines are greened out, while all the rugby lines are marked with low concentrate white paint, making it easy to remove after games. The staff use transfer wheel line markers and string out for every line. For both rugby and football lines it usually takes about an hour and half to mark out.
I have to say that the pitch was in
excellent condition for the time of the year, with no visible wear in either of the goalmouths. This is mainly due to Dan’s management of the pitch and his control of the teams’ training and warm up requirements. He is very strict about what clubs can and cannot do, following the FA guidelines and policies rigorously. For example, he puts out temporary goals for goalkeeping warm ups and, whilst allowing crosses into the main goalmouths, he disallows direct shooting. The pitch is mown daily throughout the
growing season, using a combination of mowing techniques. This generally centres around the use of pedestrian rotaries - he has both Honda and John Deere mowers - Dennis 36” cylinder cassette mowers and a Toro triple mower. Occasionally, he will cut the pitch three times on the day of the match, maintaining a height of cut of 24.5mm. Dan has now got his pitch management to near perfection, which always starts
with a thorough renovation in June, usually straight after the last concert - the stadium usually hosts two or three per year. Dan has perfected a regime to ensure he has adequate time to get the pitch back up and running in time for the new season. Two to three weeks before the concert season, he will gradually reduce the height of cut on the pitch with the aim of reducing the amount of vegetation. For the last remaining matches, that can be as low as 19mm. Ensuring the plant is growing actively, Dan will apply a dose of glyphosate to kill off the grass. It soon dies off, and is ready to be covered over by the pitch protection systems that help spread the weight of the stage and expected spectator foot traffic. “This year, the stadium hosted Rod Stewart on the 1st of June and JLS on the 12th. As soon as the concerts are over and the stage removed, Hewitts Sportsturf Contractors come in and renovate the pitch. Basically, the playing surface is scarified with specialist equipment to remove all surface debris, which exposes the Desso fibres. It is then vertidrained to relieve compaction, topdressed with sand and overseeded with MM60 grass seed. The whole renovation process takes less than seven days, with grass germinating within five.”
“It is then a case of feeding to get the grass growing and starting the process of mowing to help thicken the sward. After nine to twelve days, the pitch will be cut using Honda rotary mowers. From then on, I use my ‘feel’ to decide what the pitch needs in terms of fertiliser inputs and other relevant concoctions. I’m not frightened to try new products if I think
The two Dans mowing 70
Mowing, marking out and watering
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