Winter Sports - Rugby Union
John Heyworth
When John Heyworth began hearing diverse opinions on why Aspatria RUFC’s pitch suffered from standing water and muddy conditions, he volunteered to get himself trained in the art of groundsmanship. Ten years later, the pitches are the best they have ever been
far north as you can go in England before you start singing Flower of Scotland. For such a small and somewhat isolated
A
community, it is perhaps surprising to find a thriving rugby union club. Chairman John Heyworth has dedicated much of his efforts into ensuring that club development of its facilities is dedicated to sustaining the continuing success of the club both on and off the field. John joined the Aspatria RUFC Ltd
committee as a volunteer back in 1990, and became chairman in 2000 following retirement from his role as a company director in the paperboard manufacturing industry. “One of my responsibilities was the specification, justification and project management of capital expenditure items of about £20m/pa,” he explains; a role that provided valuable experience in securing funding for the rugby club. He is also chair of Cumbria RFU Ltd., as
well as being the county’s RFU Facilities Coordinator. Having attained a BSc Hons at the
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, John went into the paperboard industry gradually progressing up the management tree. Since retirement his considerable
spatria is a community of just under 3,000 in Cumbria, midway between Workington and Carlisle, but closer to the Solway Firth. This is about as
“
I reasoned that some opinions were not scientifically sound, so volunteered to get myself trained in the appropriate science and technology, then apply said knowledge to our pitches
management experience is being put to good use in his current roles. But how did he get involved in groundsmanship? “It was needs must after listening to
diverse opinions on the reasons for Aspatria’s pitches being waterlogged, muddy and unplayable in periods of wet weather; and it rains a lot in Cumbria!” he points out. “So I attended levels training courses in Winter Sports Groundsmanship, along with various other courses on sports field drainage, pitch maintenance and pesticide spraying; all since retiring from full time employment. I simply wanted to understand what was going on with our pitches.” “I reasoned that some opinions were not
scientifically sound, so volunteered to get myself trained in the appropriate science and technology, then apply said knowledge to our pitches. I have, however, made it my business to establish expert contacts in the industry, for example with Keith Kent, Head Groundsman at RFU Twickenham.” The site covers a total of five hectares;
three of which are grassed areas, with the rest being car parks, clubhouse, grandstand (with gymnasium and changing rooms) and a hard covered all weather area. “As Chairman, I have to convince the
committee, and particularly our Hon. Treasurer, of the need to spend annual budgeted expenditure on pitch maintenance, along with many other items. I have also been instrumental in raising grant funding from the RFF (the RFU’s funding arm), Sport England and various other funding bodies for capital expenditure on maintenance equipment and storage, new floodlights for the training pitches and the 1st XV pitch, along with drainage for the training pitches. To date, this has totalled more than £150k since 2003.” “The playing surfaces are only a part of
our capital expenditure programme, which is based on a philosophy of continuous improvement. I must emphasise that I am only one of a team of volunteers with an assortment of skills, all of whom contribute, to varying degrees, to the sustainability of the club.”
Those volunteers include a retired head
teacher who marks out the pitches, an electrical engineer who looks after all electrical issues and helps with all tractor driving tasks - mowing, deep tine aeration, fertiliser spreading, sand topdressing, overseeding, spraying etc. - and a retired mechanical engineer who does all the odd jobs. “I am, though, the main specifier and contact with agronomists and contractors for most, but not all, disciplines,” he confirms. By now, John’s passion for the club will be
evident and he goes on to outline the pitch problems that got him involved initially. “The soil profile is a clay based loam rootzone, varying in depth from as little as 150mm to as much as 500mm, dependent on location. The subsoil is boulder clay.” “All the pitches were created by a cut and
fill operation in the early 1970s by an agricultural contractor who, allegedly, removed much of the topsoil to pay for the job!” he proclaims. “The original fields were irregularly sloping grazing pastures, whilst our southern border is the Cumbrian West Coast railway line.” “The contractor also created a ‘slight slope’ on the 1st team pitch, which would be good, except that it slopes back towards the slope from which it was cut! The photographs of the partially flooded pitch shows this clearly. This happens every time it rains heavily and slows the rate of drainage of the whole pitch considerably” he bemoans. “The solution will cost upwards of £50k. I will be applying to Sport England for grant funding for this pitch in the near future.” “This pitch has, naturally, been the focus of our attention for many years as it is where most of our matches are played,” continues John.
“We have three pitches, but only the 1st
XV pitch is full RU size; the others are smaller and double as training pitches. Local rugby league and football clubs use our training pitches for their training and the 1st XV pitch for league matches and occasional finals. Social cricket is also played on this area in the summer, but there is no true wicket, only
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