Winter Sports
“It’s a great job when you are part of a winning team and you can see the rewards for all the hard work, both on and off the field”
groundsman/gardener, before having to transfer as part of Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) when he joined the council’s appointed external contractor, Glendales, for a further fifteen years.
Meeting Mick, you instantly get a sense of pride for the job he does, and he took me on a quick tour of the Valley Parade stadium before we discussed the day to day maintenance of his pitch. First stop, quite rightly, was to see the two memorials to those who died in the fire, before heading off to see the corporate suites, boardroom and The
1911 Club, a restaurant celebrating their FA Cup victory. We then went on to the Kop where we got a birds eye view of the ground. Mick explained that, with no other full-time groundstaff to help him, it’s mainly down to him to look after the pitch, although he can call on the stadium’s general maintenance man when needed. He also has a couple of volunteers on match days to help put the portable goals out and erect the safety ball stop netting.
Whilst making our way down on to the pitch, Mick went on to explain that, like
many lower league groundsmen, he has to work with limited resources combined with having to manage an old soil based pitch. It was originally laid on an ash base and has a large camber to help water run off the playing surface. During the 1990s, as was the thinking at the time, it went through a phase of heavy sand dressings and amelioration of the top 100mm to improve drainage, resulting in a heavy and stodgy surface. Combined with the camber and normal wear an tear it meant that, come December, most of the centre of the pitch became devoid of grass cover.
JUNE/JULY 2013 PC 81
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