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Pete Hussey - spend it like Beckham - and avoid plug sockets!
Who are you? Pete Hussey, Grounds Manager at Stanley Park, Chippenham.
Family status? Married with two children.
What’s your guilty pleasure? Watching people being scared or shocked, and their reaction.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? David Beckham, just to see what his day is like.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? Being guest speaker at the Ricoh Arena in 2013 talking about the work I do at Stanley Park.
Do you have any bad habits? I’m OCD on plug sockets!
... or any good ones? Attention to detail and working hard - you get what you put in.
What would you change about yourself? Nothing, I’m happy in myself.
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day’s workload? Sometimes.
Who’s your hero and why? My three brothers. What are you reading at the moment? Bear Grylls. What’s your favourite record? Coldplay, Fix You. What are your pet peeves? Laziness.
What’s the best part of your job? The players, teams and community we provide for and seeing the facilities used by them.
… and the worst? Having to call matches off.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? To play on the Wembley pitch.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? My wife.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Take all the family to Disney World.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
What’s your favourite piece of kit? The Sisis Quadraplay. What's your favourite smell? Fresh cut grass.
What do you do in your spare time? Spend time with my family.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Determined, strong, loyal.
What talent would you like to have? A photographic memory.
98 I PC APRIL/MAY 2015 The ‘prem pitch’
Overseeding takes place at the end of the season, but sometimes, if budget allows, he may also overseed in October and November. A Vredo disc seeder is hired in for these tasks. When asked which piece of machinery is his favourite, Nigel replies; “it depends what job I am doing at that time.” For end of season renovations, Nigel
cuts the pitches down to 25mm, then scarifies with the Quadraplay. The Terra Spike is then put across the whole site, at a various depths depending on soil conditions, overseeded with Johnsons Premier Pitch and, finally, sand dressed with 480 tonnes of medium/coarse Leyton Buzzard Sand, which is put down with a 4 tonne disc spreader and tractor, both of which are hired in from TH White. Renovations do vary, and do depend
on available budget, as these are still set by the council but, says Pete, “whatever cutbacks have to be made, the pitch maintenance budget is always the last to get cut as the playing surfaces are what bring in the most revenue.” After seeding, Nigel will put down
Everris Pro Lite at a rate of 35gm across the site and 40gm on the ‘prem pitch’, once the leaf is at the 3-5 stage. Three weeks later he puts on Everris Pro Turf 20:0:07, again at the same rate. The ‘prem pitch’ will also have a top up of liquids to which is added iron, seaweed, Primo Maxx and nitrogen. “Then, around November time, we put on an application of either Multi Green or Sierrablen and won’t put anything else on the site until the next end of season renovation. Our renovations can take place anytime between mid-May and the beginning of August, so it does give a good window of time to get them in.”
Even in the poorest of weather and some of the worst rain last year, Stanley Park managed to remain open as fixtures were moved onto the 3G FIFA 2 star rated pitch. “For every ten hours of use, it should have thirty minutes of maintenance,” states Nigel. “But we don’t do any maintenance in wet conditions as we find it compacts the rubber crumb; it is best to do when it is dry.” The carpet is brushed with a Sisis
Flexicomb weekly and always in different directions. The rubber crumb is spring tined once a month and dragmatted to level out the infill. The 3G surface may be used for up to sixty- five hours in any one week, whereas each of the natural pitches are used for six hours of game time per week. “3G has its place and has come a
long way,” Nigel states, “but I would much rather play and have games held on an immaculate natural turf pitch cut and striped at 25mm. Saying that though, the 3G does take a lot of wear off the natural pitches, especially where training is concerned.” Machinery is checked weekly. This
consists of oil, water and fluid checks, tyres, belts and wear. The vehicles are sent away for service, as and when they have done the requisite hours, to either TH Whites or BS Mowers, depending on who holds the service contract on a particular vehicle. There is a five-year replacement plan in place, but Pete confirms that, if a machine is still performing okay, they won’t necessarily change it just because its time is up, but may, instead, look at other equipment to purchase. When asked if there is one item of equipment that particularly helps to improve the surfaces, Nigel replies; “all of it; it depends what time of year it is
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