Winter Sports - Football GR SSCUTTER


Our anonymous, and somewhat grumpy groundsman, Mr AKA Grasscutter, tinkers about a bit in an effort to make savings ...


Consider pre-loved to be loved!


As regular readers will know, myself and Mrs Grasscutter are big tennis fans, so I was pleased to see the return to competition of Ms Sharapova, and of apparent common sense. Somehow, to me, her ban for taking illegal substances always felt like a bit of a sting operation. Mrs G reckons there might be an ulterior motive behind my delight at seeing her back in all her grunting glory. I couldn’t possibly comment!


Not that I am condoning performance enhancing drugs, you understand, although our lot certainly need something to help get them away from the relegation quagmire! At the time of writing, there are just a few games to go and it’s all looking decidedly dodgy, to say the least.


The board appear to have kept faith with the manager, or at least he has not yet been given a vote of confidence, and I know that he has been happy with the pitch this year. “Best it has ever been” was one comment directed my way.


I think that the mild winter, followed by a glorious start to spring, has certainly helped many of my colleagues produce pitches that are uniformly better than last year. The trick now is to get the renovation requirements, and the budget, pinned down.


It almost seems a shame to even think about such things when the grass is growing so well, but the club management understand that it’s one of those jobs that simply has to be carried out, regardless. In the not too distant past, I had to fight for every penny, but a couple of seasons close to the play-offs saw an increase in people through the turnstiles.


Quite how relegation might affect any available budget for next season is anyone’s guess. I’ve struggled in the past and I’m quite prepared to do so again, if needs be. I will cross that bridge when I come to it.


During the close season this summer, I am going to look at adding a couple of bits of kit


98 I PC APRIL/MAY 2017


“


I get great enjoyment out of tinkering around on those wet summer evenings that make playing tennis impossible, and when there’s ‘sod all’ on the TV worth watching


to our machinery shed. I’m a fan of buying secondhand, not just because it helps the club’s budget, but because I’m a bit of a dab hand at fixing stuff. There are certainly some bargains out there if you are prepared to put in the effort.


A number of colleagues ask; “Why bother? Get the club to buy new!”, but it’s not that straightforward or clear cut. If I can buy a ‘pre-loved’ (or not, as the case may be) machine at the fraction of the cost of new, spend a few days doing it up and getting it


working again, not only have I perhaps saved the club some money, but also stood myself in good stead when next year’s budget is discussed. Additionally, I get great enjoyment out of tinkering around on those wet summer evenings that make playing tennis impossible, and when there’s ‘sod all’ on the TV worth watching. Wimbledon aside, you understand. And Mrs G would rather I was in the garage than under her feet!


Keep the faith, and keep cutting the grass. After all, that’s all we do!


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