Sports & Recreation Clubs
“
The team spirit at Glasgow Rangers was the best I had ever encountered and it was a great place to work. All departments worked very well together
Gang Warily - very much a community hub
Souter of Souters Sports who was particularly helpful in teaching me report writing, course management etc.” “I then moved to Aberfoyle Golf Club to
One of the artificial surfaces with the oil refinery as a backdrop
become Head Greenkeeper and, during this time, completed my HNC in Golf Course Management and chainsaw certificates, to add to Pa1 and Pa6 that I had completed at Hilton. Since being with Fawley Parish Council I have gained tree survey and identification, Pa2 and Level 3 CPD.” “Unfortunately, due to a large fall in membership and the resulting budget cuts, I was made redundant.” Undeterred, Niall made the decision to go self employed and, after completing a business start up course, launched a landscaping business. “My father helped me a lot with old
customers and day to day stuff. After his retirement (I bet he thought he could put his feet up!), I worked hard to build the business from sole trader to employing six staff at its peak. Sadly, at the time of the credit crunch, work was drying up after a busy summer period and I had two large jobs put on hold until the spring due to the financial climate. I thought long and hard about where I was going and decided I missed working on sportsgrounds. So I started looking for vacancies.” One that popped up on the radar was for a
Niall on the golf course
skilled groundsman at Glasgow Rangers FC and Niall successfully applied. “I really enjoyed learning the groundsmanship role and working on very high standard pitches. I worked under a great management team of David Roxburgh (Head Groundsman), Ben Grigor and Paul Matthew (Deputy Head Groundsmen) plus a fantastic team of groundsmen. The team spirit was the best I had ever encountered and it was a great place to work. All departments worked together very well.” Niall confesses that, after being self
The Gang Warily grounds team l-r: Tom Smith, Pete Warne, Niall Gibb and Jason Mansbridge
38 I PC JUNE/JULY 2015
employed for six years, he was a bit low on confidence returning to his trade. However, working with the grounds team at Rangers saw the confidence in his own ability return, so much so that he felt he could progress to managing his own facility.
“I realised I may have to travel to achieve this and, whilst browsing various websites, came across a vacancy at Fawley Parish Council, who were looking for a head groundsman. With family connections in the area, I thought, why not? I applied and was successful. Getting the opportunity to work in a different environment has been a real positive in my career.” The facilities offered by Fawley Parish
Council are extensive and comprise six grass football pitches, two grass rugby pitches for Fawley Rugby Club (nearing completion), a nine-hole par 3 golf course, twelve play areas, fishing lakes, seven public open spaces, three artificial football pitches, two skate parks, allotments, paddocks, the Pentagon and Manor wildlife areas and Ashlett moorings. Additionally, Niall has responsibility for the QE2 Recreation Ground which was jointly funded by New Forest District Council, Hampshire County Council, Fawley Parish Council and the Football Foundation. QE2 has three full size pitches and one junior pitch, two basketball pitches and an under-12 play area. The team also have contracts with three schools and a local golf course.
Niall has a team of four to assist him.
Thirty-one year old Jason Mansbridge is Team Leader Groundsman, who has been with him for sixteen months. Groundsmen Pete Warne (23 and 16 months service), Tom Smith (61/11 years) and Maintenance Officer, Simon Llewellyn (41/31 months) complete the team.
“Early in my tenure here, I introduced a
programme to collate all the annual works required. This was then broken down to monthly requirements. I now produce a weekly schedule for staff, which goes up on the notice board. Each member of staff is responsible for completing their hours on the weekly sheets; this is their time sheet. This helps me to manage workloads and ensure all areas are being covered. If any other works come in from the Council, senior management or other departments, they are programmed in on a priority basis. This helps us to cover all our workload. We have a
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