If there is ever an issue concerning the pitch the rule is always to speak to the head groundsman
Tigers team (20 years), who has witnessed the worst and the best of times at Hull. “The only thing they do ask is what time I’m watering the pitch before the game, so that they know when to put the microphones out around the perimeter,” he laughs.
A plethora of cables and wires
The answer to that question is “As late as possible. We always water, even in winter, because players prefer a zippy surface,” says Mark. Surely groundsmen could ‘earn their stripes’ with the media by sexing up the pitch with some creative mowing for the benefit of TV viewers. Not so, insists Mark. Premiership rules dictate patterns of cut, he stresses. “Anyway, I'm not such a lover of daft designs,” he says with northern candour. Similarly, at Fulham FC, when stadium duties are tightly channelled, any risk of TV production and broadcasting teams disrupting preparation for match days is likely to be minimised. David Fellowes, Head Groundsman
Pitchside cameras stay behind perimeter advertising boards for the safety of everyone
at Fulham for three years, says it’s very much a case of “they do their thing and we do ours”. With Sky, Setanta and the BBC, amongst others, all televising the sporting action, controlling the movement of vehicles and personnel is vital, he explains. “Production teams usually arrive with the rigging on the Friday for a match the next day, finishing on the Saturday after setting up one of the executive boxes as a studio." For the Sky Super Sunday, up to four trucks arrive, but they are not allowed on-site and are not given special priority, he adds. “My responsibility is everything inside the advertising perimeter boards and I have to ensure that nothing is going to find it’s way on to the pitch, such as camera trolleys. Our facilities manager, Nigel Jones, will deal more closely with those aspects than I will though. Cameras positioned higher in the ground for aerial shots are winched up on to permanent gantries, but this operation is undertaken from the artificial surface, not the pitch.” Given that televising play at a
Premiership ground might require at
Filming a pitchside interview 58
What a lovely problem to have though. For now, we are just enjoying the ride”
least twenty cameras positioned around the pitch, the issue of where to safely shield hundreds of metres of cabling can potentially pose problems, although the frequency of visits by broadcasters dictates that a permanent solution is in place to simplify setting up. At Fulham, camera cables are run
round the perimeter of the pitch in trunking laid under the artificial grass surface that surrounds the pitch. “I routinely check that the cabling is in place and that it does not present a trip hazard if we need to evacuate the ground,” confirms David, who adds that Craven Cottage, in common with some other older grounds, includes drainage chambers running below the pitch perimeter and that these can accommodate cabling. Communications across differing
responsibilities are the order of the day. The match day controller lets the production manager know the schedule and David and Nigel will be kept fully briefed as necessary, he explains. “I ensure that the microphones positioned around the pitch are between one and one and a half metres away from the line and that they are covered up prior to the game beginning, because one of my main priorities on match day is to do a full cut of the pitch and it’s important that nothing prevents that from being done, or that sensitive equipment, such as mics, are not damaged in any way.” Ground rules apply to small as well
as large equipment and the goals are not exempt from the attentions of stadium staff - cameras are barred from them, David confirms. Preparing sport for television has become, in some senses, a well-oiled machine that occasionally might have a spanner thrown into the works, perhaps propelled by unforeseen circumstances. The relationship between media and stadia staff could present severe operational difficulties as the duties of each vie for priority. Professionalism will always win the day, however - for the sake of the fans, the viewers and commercial livelihoods.
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