Winter Sports - Football GETTING Personal...
David Anderson ‐ fighting talk at his dinner party ‐ possibly!
Who are you? David
Anderson, Head Groundsman at Barnsley Football Club.
Family status? Married with four kids… yes ‐ four!
Who’s your hero and why? Michael Jordan, I played basketball when I was younger and he was my hero then.
What would you change about yourself? I’d like to be younger; maybe more educated.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? I think taking over from my
predecessor in this job ‐ never really expected it to happen.
What are your pet peeves? People walking on the grass, not respecting the damage they can cause. Just generally people being inconsiderate to what we do.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be?
If you forced me to work at another club, it’d be somewhere I could improve the place.
What’s the best part of your job? Being responsible for something so professional and high profile. It’s stressful, but it’s rewarding.
… and the worst? People complaining when it’s not necessary.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? I used to fancy starting a business, but my personal responsibilities are too important to me for that now. I’ve got to where I want to be in this career anyway.
Favourite record, and why? Something by Michael Jackson. Billie Jean, perhaps. It’s nostalgic, because I liked it when I was a kid.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Buy my house outright, and stash money away for my kids.
54 I PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? Bruce Lee, Muhammad Ali and Sir Alex Ferguson.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? Tony Stark because he’s clever, successful and he flies around in a metal suit.
Do you have any bad habits? Putting the wrong CD in the wrong case.
... or any good ones? I do all my chores.
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day’s workload? [Immediately] Yeah. Nearly every day. Will a machine break down?
What are you reading now; hard copy or online? Pitchcare, obviously.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Take life day‐by‐day. Looking too far into the future, you’ll get anxious.
What’s your favourite smell? Burberry Touch.
What do you do in your spare time? Looking after the kids. Football or games or TV.
What’s your favourite piece of kit? Tractor‐mounted sprayer.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Indecisive, creative, careful.
What talent would you like to have? I’d play the guitar, because my dad could. That or piano.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? I wouldn’t be against a winter break in the football season. As a groundsman, having that break would be so beneficial. It’d hurt the renovations, but right when the pitch is at its worst, it’d get a well‐earned rest.
in, we can get rid of it no problem. If we wait until it shows itself, and then try to solve it, it’s much harder and a lot of unnecessary damage can be done.”
“During the off‐season, around July, we were showing some fusarium patches right down one side of the pitch too. And that’s with daily dew brushing.” “I put a systemic on that, and it did work. But that’s with the help of a biostimulant, as we’d been told by the consultant. With the stimulant, the leaf strengthened and started to help itself.” “The worm issue is huge now too. I’ve been trying a few different products, mainly sulphur‐ based, but you roll the dice on them.”
“Our casts have been really bad. We’re spraying them all the time, which does seem to slow them down a little bit, but it’s still hard
to control them properly.” “We get coaches and players sometimes complaining about the casts in the surface, because they think we’re not divoting properly, and we have to explain that they’re not divots.”
“But it’s hard to convince them, because there are so many. It’s understandable when they ask why the pitch is deteriorating so early on, because only we know that’s not actually the case.” “And they’re getting worse year‐on‐year. That’s because, I think, after the health and safety‐ inspired carbendazim reductions took place, the chemical didn’t do quite the job it once did anyway.” “So, it might have been time, even without the complete
withdrawal, to start looking for new solutions.”
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