News
AFC Wimbledon agree contract
AFC Wimbledon has agreed contracts to sell off its current ground as it awaits final planning permission to start work on its proposed new stadium development in Merton.
The Dons Trust - AFC Wimbledon’s owner - has exchanged the contracts for the sale of Kingsmeadow with Chelsea FC, which intends to use the ground for its youth and women’s teams.
Funds raised by the sale of Kingsmeadow will go towards the building of the new stadium, but the deal with Chelsea will not be finalised until final planning permission has been achieved.
As part of the deal, AFC Wimbledon will make a “substantial donation” to Kingstonian – the team it shares the ground with – to secure another ground near the Kingston area.
Glasgow Warriors seek 3G pitch permission
Scottish rugby union club Glasgow Warriors has submitted a proposal to install an artificial pitch at its Scotstoun Stadium after being forced to play matches elsewhere last season.
The Pro12 team saw its field badly affected during last winter’s heavy rainfall and had to play three matches away from Scotstoun, while a fourth match was postponed.
The mooted pitch installation - which, according to the club, meets World Rugby guidelines - will reduce the risk of fixture postponement. As as part of the work planned, the adjacent training field will be improved, as well as the athletics facilities for International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) events.
Glasgow City Council’s Executive Committee will be asked to approve the investment works this week. If the project gets the green light, it will be funded by the council, Scottish Rugby, Glasgow Warriors and sportscotland.
Work commenced in late June and is expected to be ready ahead of the 2016/17 season.
“We’re starting with a blank sheet of paper. We’ve taken the sustainability concept as far as we could at the New Lawn, our current stadium.”
8 I PC JUNE/JULY 2016 New Association launched
Frustrations with existing turfcare organisations leads to new association run by turfcare professionals for turfcare professionals
On the 20th of January 2016 the Turfcare Association came into existence. We currently have an Executive Committee of six people, a written constitution, a website, emails, a Twitter account, and a whole heap of enthusiasm. The next stage, amongst other things, is to open up membership to the wider turfcare community.
The idea of the Turfcare Association didn’t just happen overnight. When we trace our short, embryonic history back, we were probably born out of a reaction to and frustration with existing turfcare organisations. Many of us were members of existing turfcare membership organisations, but we felt, for various reasons, that our needs were not being met and we were simply members because there was nothing else.
Meetings were held, ideas were exchanged, followed by more meetings and more ideas. Years passed (yes, years), and nothing changed. Many of us continued along. It was often a lonely and apathetic existence. We appeared to be accepting there was no alternative. Perhaps we had to reach this stage in order for something to change. We decided it was no use trying to change existing organisations. We had to create our own new organisation, from scratch.
Creating a new organisation from scratch has not been easy. It has sometimes felt like we were pushing a jelly elephant up a set of winding stairs, but we’ve done it - we exist.
We shall be eternally grateful to Pitchcare and Campey Turf Care for the support and encouragement they gave us, and continue to give us. Pitchcare have
given us much needed technical and practical support, and Campeys gave us a platform from which to announce our existence to a turfcare audience at one of their grassroots pitch renovations in Stirling on the 19th May. The timing was perfect - a grassroots renovation event that kindly signposted our brand new turfcare organisation at the grassroots stage of development - a new beginning.
Some people may think we are simply another turfcare organisation for football groundsman and sports turf. We can say absolutely we are not. Our written constitution is much wider than this. We welcome everyone interested in turfcare, no matter what turf they care for. Some people may think we are a Scottish organisation because the Executive Committee all live and work in Scotland. Again we can say absolutely not. Our constitution is UK wide. We hope to invite members from across the UK and, with the help of social media, technology and enthusiasm, we can narrow the geographical distance between us all.
There may also be people who think we are doing this to compete with existing turfcare organisations. No, we are doing this because we believe there are many people out there just like us
- ordinary turfcare people looking for a membership organisation and network to feel part of, and that meets the needs of ordinary members.
Please take a look at our website, our aims and objectives, and our Twitter account. If you like what you see, please contact us via the website. When we open our doors to members, you’ll be the first to know. Together we can build a new turfcare organisation - the Turfcare Association.
Thank you.
MICHAEL THOMSON Association Secretary Turfcare Association
www.turfcare-association.org @TurfcareTweets
Executive Committee
Chair: Mark Farrell, Head Groundsman, Greenock Morton Football Club
Association Secretary: Michael Thomson, proprietor, Mr & Mrs Gardens Ltd
Committee Members:
Heather MacKinnon, Operations Manager Grounds-Been
Stephen Bache, Head Groundsman, Hampden Park
Steven Ollerenshaw, Grounds Manager at a private school in Crieff
BASIS Points for magazine subscribers
*BASIS awards two CPD points for ‘paid for’ subscribers to the hard copy version of Pitchcare magazine, due to the “diverse range of content that relates to the control, management and use of pesticides”.
Subscribers can now obtain a further two valuable CPD points for their Professional register, simply by paying for a subscription to the ‘hard copy’ version of the Pitchcare magazine.
Anyone wishing to claim their points should email their
full name, BASIS membership number, date of birth and postcode to
editor@pitchcare.com.
*BASIS is an independent standards setting and auditing organisation for the pesticide, fertiliser and allied industries.
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