Winter Sports - Football
GR SSCUTTER In the ‘quieter’ months!
Our anonymous, and somewhat grumpy groundsman, Mr AKA Grasscutter, explains what he gets up to during the close season ...
unlike thatch build-up on grass. Funnily enough, the keys seem more responsive now!
By the time you read this, our season will be well underway and we’ll have had two league home games. The manager is targeting promotion and I’ve done my bit with the pitch, so now it’s down to the players.
Well, what a couple of months that was! Brexit, Iceland, the Russian doping scandal, a woman on top and currently no viable opposition in Parliament. And Mrs Grasscutter beside herself at Andy Murray winning Wimbledon.
I’ve followed all the events with a mixture of joy, anger, horror and incedulity, but I’m not going to lay my cards on the table as to what adjective fits where, as the events in Nice cut through the lot.
By complete contrast, June and July are traditionally the quieter months for me, if there is such a thing! The renovations have been completed, new grass seed has established and I can go about my daily tasks without the pressure of league fixtures on the horizon; at least until mid July when we had our first pre-season friendly.
This passed without any significant damage to the surface and, with the players training on the pitch the previous day, I was pleased with how it held up, especially as we had an extraordinary amount of rain during the previous two weeks. The value of aeration was evident.
Even as I fired up the rotary to do some post match clean-up, the manager and a couple of players came over to say “good job”, or words to that effect, so that was a pleasing start to the new season.
During this less stressful period, I usually take the time to tidy up the workshop, clean
94 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016
off the machines and generally get everything spick and span. That includes my ‘office’, which is basically a cubbyhole with a couple of chairs, a small desk, a computer and a shelf with various suppliers’ brochures; some stretching back to to 2010, as I found out when I decided to lessen the burden on the creaking structure.
I even brought in one of Mrs G’s dusters and a proprietary cleaning fluid to give everything a once over. The club’s cleaners stay away from my domain, not because I’m scary, but because the bowels of the stadium are not in their remit.
If, like me, you are partial to the odd snack whilst working at the computer, you’ll be amazed at how much ‘crap’ comes out of the keyboard when you turn it upside down - remnants of crisps and biscuits stretching back months, I reckon. I suppose it’s not
“
It feels like the season starts earlier each year which, of course, it doesn’t. But I do wonder, if suggestions of a ‘winter break’ come to fruition, what affect that might have? Whilst part of me would welcome being able to rest the pitch for a couple of weeks in the depths of winter, there is something about Christmas and New Year games that are the very fabric of English football. I’m sure the fans would miss them, although Mrs G might appreciate me being less stressed out over the festive period!
There is a part of me that wants to shout from the rooftops about all the high profile goings on in recent months, but I have to put my trust in those elected to do their job. I see enough comment on social media to make me realise there are a good number of people who need to “engage brain before speaking”, as my dear old dad used to say.
It will all come out in the wash - to coin another of his favourites - and, as a nation, we are a resilient bunch; and we have to be to do this job!
Keep the faith, and keep cutting the grass. After all, that’s all we do!
I even brought in one of Mrs G’s dusters and a proprietary cleaning fluid to give everything a once over. The club’s cleaners stay away from my domain, not because I’m scary, but because the bowels of the stadium are not in their remit
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