Winter Sports - Football
GETTING Personal...
Mark Farrell - reveille, engage brain, do the dishes; not a bad day’s work!
Who are you? Mark Farrell, Head Groundsman, Greenock Morton Football Club.
Family status? Married to Tracey with two daughters, Scarlett and Olivia.
Who’s your hero and why? Ian Botham - what a player he was.
What would you change about yourself? Engaging brain before opening mouth.
What’s your guilty pleasure? Chocolate biscuits.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? Still to come!
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? Richard Attenborough, Clint Eastwood and Charles Darwin.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? Adele - so that I can say; “I can sing”.
Do you have any bad habits? I bite my nails.
... or any good ones? I do the dishes.
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day's workload? Yes - when wet weather forecast.
What are you reading at the moment? Turfcare magazines.
What are your pet peeves? People walking on a frozen pitch.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? Florida.
What’s the best part of your job? Scarifying.
… and the worst? Unblocking toilets.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? To visit every racecourse in Britain.
Favourite record, and why? George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue - I like classical music.
68 I PC APRIL/MAY 2015
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? Princess Grace Kelly.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Buy Greenock Morton FC.
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? A bugle - loud, abrupt and wakes everybody up.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? “Manage your time”, from Ken Siems, ex Loch Lomond Course Manager.
What’s your favourite smell? Freshly cut grass.
What do you do in your spare time? Watch and play cricket, cycling.
What’s your favourite piece of kit? The Dennis G860 - it has been a game changer for Cappielow.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Tall, dark and handsome.
What talent would you like to have? To be able to ski.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? A uniform price across the board for alcohol. Stop shops selling cheap drink whilst pubs and sports clubs suffer.
Great service from Campeys when purchasing the secondhand Verti-Drain
and verticut the pitch quite heavily, in between fans’ and community games, leading up to the renovation in the third week of May.” “As I said earlier, everything is done through careful planning to keep the surface open and minimising compaction.” Asked if he thought the
turfcare industry was in good shape, Mark replied; “Training wise, the industry is very strong but, on the ground, lack of funds is apparent and people are now very choosy where they spend their money. Clubs have had to diversify their facilities to bring in new income streams as money is tight. Survival is key.” “Are we undervalued? No, I
don’t feel that here, but we need to raise our profile. We need to utilise social media and get involved in community programmes to show the kids, the parents and, especially, the local authorities the importance
What’s in the shed? John Deere Gator TH 6x4 New Holland TC400 tractor
Dennis G860 cylinder mower with scarifier and verticutter cassettes
Charterhouse 7316 Verti-Drain Sisis Supa Rotorake
Ransomes 36” Mastiff cylinder mower
Plus a strimmer, pole hedge trimmer and backpack blower
“All machiney has been carefully bought second hand. Diligence is key.
These are usually purchased from local dealers, but I have recently received great service from Campeys in purchasing a
secondhand Verti-Drain.
The Dennis G860 has been a game changer for Cappielow to make it easier to manage the turf and my time.
Nairn Brown or Hamilton Brothers carry out servicing, depending on the type/make of machine.
A cherry picker is hired in to clean the gutters on the main stand.”
of quality playing surfaces.” Well said, and well done on
eleven years of providing a quality playing surface to a football team that looks like it might just be heading up the yoyo string once again at the end of this season!
The G860 has been a “game changer”
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