Winter Sports - Football
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I was marking out in my suit as, obviously, I was match day safety officer. With the game being on TV, I got spotted by my colleagues - I seemed to have every other
groundsman in the country taking the p**s out of me!
becoming the youngest head groundsman in the Football League at the time. Following the Bradford fire, the club had to comply with safety standards and employ a stadium manager, a role that Ian added to his duties, but with the addition of full-time member of the groundstaff. Following the Hillsborough tragedy, every
club had to employ a safety officer and, yes, you’ve guessed it, Ian took on that role as well! But it doesn’t stop there. Two years ago, the club’s Commercial Manager left. “The chairman stood there with his hands on hips and, like an idiot, I said I had two weeks leave left and could help out. So I went out and got the biggest shirt sponsorship deal the club had seen in a decade. It’s been interesting at Cambridge United, to say the least!” So, with a job title that you’d find hard to fit on a business card, how on earth does Ian find the time to do what he does and, more importantly, why? “It’s the hours that are a killer,” he confesses. “The groundsman is usually first in and last out. And then there are all the other duties to perform around that. On the day of the Manchester United game, I was marking out in my suit as, obviously, I was match day safety officer. With the game being on TV, I got spotted by my colleagues - I seemed to have every other groundsman in the country taking the p**s out of me!” “Mind you, that was a regular occurrence
twenty years ago, when I’d also do post match divoting in my finery. I was known as the best dressed groundsman in the business!” So, when his pitch gets criticised, how does he take it? “In my stride.” he says in a
52 I PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015
matter of fact way. “Look, during the live broadcast, Martin Keown was down at pitch side and full of praise, and you had Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer in the studio saying what a good pitch it was for this level. I’m never going to compete with Darren at Spurs or Dougie at West Ham because I haven’t got UV lights and a shed load of kit, but I do pride myself on providing a decent surface.” This is borne out by pitch marks from the
League, which rate Ian’s pitch ‘above average’, and is backed up by the referee reports on the condition of the surface. “And, to be honest,” continues Ian, “you don’t win FA Groundsman of the Year five times and have three commendations if you’re not achieving some sort of quality.” “The chairman has had to dip into his
pockets on many occasions to keep this place going. Can we afford to pay the tax, can we afford to pay the players’ wages? Yes we can, but there’s no money for anything else.” “I’ve set up all sorts of contra deals with
companies that have got plant equipment, plus a couple of local greenkeepers help me out. We pitch in together and have achieved a ‘reasonable’ surface.” The Fenland accent puts the emphasis on ‘reasonable’. Asked if they are all U’s supporters, Ian
says no, not all of them; “some are just mates I go fishing with [his other passion], who come and bail me out. Obviously, some have an interest in the club, otherwise they wouldn’t do it. A good example is a local contractor who has a verti-drain. I find him work in and around Cambridge and he’ll come in and put the machine across the pitch whilst he’s in the area as a thank you. Then I’ve got a greenkeeping mate who’ll bring his Amazone in at a peppercorn rate.
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