Winter Sports - Football “


When I first arrived at Priestfield, it was obvious that the stadium pitch was being seriously affected by compaction and the sub-surface structure wasn’t functioning as it should


Gillingham Football Club


Provan positive!


Neville Johnson went to the Priestfield Stadium, home of Gillingham FC to talk to one of the new generation of football head groundsmen and finds that you have to be business- like and hands-on for life in Division One


C 58 I PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015


lubs like Gillingham are the bedrock of English football. Its Priestfield Stadium, which dates back to 1893, is typical of lower league grounds that have evolved


over the years to suit needs. Few are elegant but, for ninety minutes or so, on Saturday afternoons mostly, they are home from home for thousands of football fans. The Gills’ Priestfield now has an all-seater


capacity of 11,582. Until Chairman Paul Scally’s dream and intent of taking the club to a new, purpose-built nearby stadium, it will continue to be home. It has a head groundsman who is clearly at home there too.


When Tony Provan was at school, he liked nothing better than being outside. As we talk


on a bitter January morning in the warmth of one the club’s offices, it was obvious that he still felt the same. At ease and articulate as he was, you sensed he was itching to get back into pitch territory. He gets ribbed a bit by colleagues at the


club for being a lifelong Charlton fan, but it’s never an issue and, actually, the Gills have their south London rivals to thank for his professional grooming. He asked his school, back in 2000, if he could do his work experience at the Valley. He knew a few people there and this was easily arranged. Paul Geary, then in charge of Charlton’s training grounds, was impressed by his attitude and application and he was offered an apprenticeship when he left school a year later. He went on to study at Hadlow College


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