“The FA have a set of rules and regulations regarding pre- match warm ups. I get very annoyed when players and coaching staff go off and do
their own thing” David Mitchell, Head Groundsman, Carlisle United
management to improve the playing characteristics of the pitch. This included installing a new primary drainage system and a new pitch.
has been associated with the club for 20 years in almost every department during his time at the club. The club’s latest recruit is apprentice Greg Bacon (16). David’s arrival at Brunton Park coincided with severe flooding of the ground and surrounding areas when the Rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril burst their banks three years ago, leaving heavy deposits of silt on the pitch once the water had
David Mitchell, Head Groundsman -w
hat a priority! woolly
subsided. Although much of this was removed a decision was taken by the club’s
The old soil based pitch was originally built on a landfill site which, over the years, resulted in a number of settlement problems including dips and a very large crown.
The club phased the work over two seasons. In the 2005 closed season the new primary drainage was installed at five metre centres and, in May and June 2006, a new pitch was installed which involved the removal of all soil material down to a depth of 400mm. In its place a 100mm gravel drainage layer was installed, 50mm blinding layer, 150mm of lower rootzone material (sand) and, finally, 100mm of upper rootzone material of sand with 350 tonnes of fibre sand. A fully automatic pop up watering system was also installed fed from a borehole. The pop up system consists of fourteen perimeter sprinkler heads, with a further eight on the pitch; all can be individually controlled.
At the same time the club took the decision to install the pipework for an underground soil heating system. This will be commissioned some time in the future when funds become available, a reminder of how strapped for cash teams
in the lower divisions can be! The pitch was oversown with a British Seed Houses A20 Ryesport seed mixture made up of 30% Aberelf, 30% Cadix, 20% Vesuvius and 20% Sunbright. Once completed David and his staff had their work cut out to ensure the new pitch was ready for the coming season. The pitch played well in its first full season and the team enjoyed their highest league position for many years after gaining promotion back to League Division 1 the previous season. Like many football clubs, Carlisle United are always looking to increase their revenue by hosting events other than football. During the 2007 closed season David and his staff had to cater for an Elton John Concert. This dictated the level of work they were able to undertake on the pitch. After the concert a small amount of black layer was evident in some areas of the pitch, mainly the shaded areas. Ideally, David wanted to koro off this material and keep the surface clean. However, the timing of the concert, on June 3rd, meant that he had to resort to other renovation methods. He scarified the pitch to remove thatch and any lateral growth, hollow tined, topdressed with 30 tonnes of fresh sand and overseeded with BSH A20. The new seed had germinated by June 15th and
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