Winter Sports - Football
When the Saints play Arsenal at the Emirates next, Steve Braddock is going to show us around the club’s London Colney training set-up
Goal celebration at St Mary’s
tractor - an inexpensive, yet very effective workhorse, he says. For the next couple of months, dew brushing, divoting and light topdressing of sand would be repeat dosing for all the grass surfaces. Andy makes mention of some industry
contacts he turns to for help and advice, including local sales rep, Derek Cunliffe, and Mark Atkins of Soil Harmony who, in effect, is an agronomist, taking monthly soil samples as a health check, so nutrient levels and any deficiencies can be monitored. He also says there’s genuinely pretty good camaraderie among Premier League
groundsmen. “We are often in touch with each other, swapping tips and even getting a look at each other’s pitches,” he says. “When the Saints play Arsenal at the Emirates next, Steve Braddock is going to show us around the club’s London Colney training set-up and, afterwards, Paul Ashcroft will show us the stadium.” He’d had to miss the opening ceremony of the Markus Liebherr Pavilion at the beginning of November. He was in Madrid after arranging a visit with Real’s head groundsman, Paul Burgess, to view the Spanish club’s training facilities and,
afterwards, at the Bernabeu watching Liverpool play the team where Southampton’s most famous playing son, Gareth Bale, now makes his living. Rubbing shoulders with Spain’s most
successful club at pitchcare level is a measure of how highly the Saints are now regarded, and perhaps their ambition too. Current Spanish champions - Athletico, not Real - play in red and white stripes. An omen perhaps?
” Put your foot down
demand the best for your pitch renovation or construction.
• Silica-sands (med-coarse, med & med-fine) • Rootzones (sand-soil or sand-green compost) • Fibresand (fibre-reinforced sand + rootzones) • Fibrelastic (dual-fibre-reinforced rootzone)
Mansfield Sand is the name behind most of the rootzones found in the leading football and rugby stadiums and training grounds in the UK. For more information about our product range, or to benefit from FREEtechnical advice fromour team of experts, or for a FREEno obligation site survey - call us today on:
01623 622441 Also available - Fibreturf custom grown fibre-reinforced natural turf.
www.mansfield-sand.co.uk PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2015 I 61
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140