NATURAL TURF
Putting it right
Tottenham Hotspur’s grounds manager Darren Baldwin hit world sporting press headlines in July, when he was called in to rescue a playing surface deemed too dangerous at the Barclays Asia Trophy finals at the Hong Kong (So Kon Po) Stadium
S
purs’ grounds manager Darren Baldwin is living proof that a groundsman is always on call. Baldwin was in Hong Kong
with the Spurs squad, helping with the team’s training requirements and facilities, when he was called in to advise the local grounds staff at So Kon Po Stadium. Torrential rain had put the Barclays Asia Trophy – a pre-season friendly competition – under threat as the rain had left the pitch in a condition which posed a potentially severe threat to the safety of players.
TAKING A TOUR “Whenever the Tottenham Hotspur team travels abroad for a tournament, I visit the training and stadium venues in advance,” Baldwin says. “While we want venues to meet with our own standards we need to take into account the local culture and not step on other people’s toes. It’s important to tread carefully and to be respectful to our hosts. “At Kowloon Cricket Club, the Hong
Kong tournament’s training venue, the team required stretching and massage areas, so it was my job to sort out some
make-shift undercover areas. In this case, a few gazebos were sufficient – and with large ice baths not available in Hong Kong, we improvised with a child’s large plastic padding pool. “However, things don’t always go to
plan: I had specifically ordered eight 1.5m x 1m mini goals for our practice
I knew we had to instigate an immediate emergency programme of spiking and applying sand
sessions, but our hosts weren’t able to source these and it was impractical to bring them from the UK so our coaching team altered their training programme accordingly.” Darren also joined the team for the
tournament itself. The Barclays Asia Trophy is held every two years and in 2013 was contested by Manchester City, Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur plus
the host club, South China, who are also Spurs’ partner club in the region. “Everything was going fine up until
the semi-finals (on July 24 2013) when torrential rain waterlogged the stadium pitch – so much so that the games were of only 80 minutes duration rather than the usual 90 minutes. It was clear that the pitch had irrigation issues, and I was called in (by The Premier League) to work collaboratively with the stadium’s grounds staff, checking on what they had planned to resolve the situation. “I knew we had to instigate an
immediate emergency programme of spiking and applying sand – many tonnes of it – if we were to be able to stage the final. Thankfully, after many hours hard work and much co- operation from the Hong Kong grounds staff and volunteers, we regained a pitch which, while not perfect and not aesthetically pleasing, was playable and most importantly safe, both for our match against South China and the game between Manchester City and Sunderland FC.”
CAREER PATHS Baldwin’s first taste of groundsmanship came at the age of five, sitting on his father’s lap while he mowed the local pitch at Buckhurst Hill, north London. His interest in turf management started back then and in October 1988 at the age of 16, he spent three weeks on work experience at Arsenal Football Club. In July 1990 he was offered the
Torrential summer rain rendered the pitch at the Hong Kong stadium unplayable 62 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital
position of assistant groundsman at Arsenal where he spent the following six years under head groundsman Steve Braddock. In June 1996, one of the less publicised transfers of personnel between the two famous north London clubs took place when Darren was lured to Tottenham Hotspur Football Club as
Issue 4 2013 © cybertrek 2013
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