Winter Sports - Football


Anything before that?


When I left school, I started on a farm as a tractor driver and, whilst doing that, they allowed me to go on three years of Wednesday day‐release at what is now Harper Adams University, during which I undertook that course in groundsmanship. I live locally, bouncing from Edgmond to Ellenhall.


What’s your staffing situation?


We sometimes have volunteers under me, including my lad, George, but no full‐time paid staff. George worked with me a bit before Christmas and last summer. He would put the irrigation system out and mow the pitch, which I thought was great. He was mowing seven days a week, because that’s what this pitch needs. They paid him for two days’ work per week but, being a young lad, he had to move on. I’m hoping that, when the pitch is done again this summer, there’ll be room for another groundsman, and that I can bring him back in. I think they will,


“ 46 I PC APRIL/MAY 2018


probably. I expect the need for two groundsmen.


Must be nice to work with your son. It is.


Is he your only kid?


I’m married, with two boys and a girl. The youngest is 24, my other lad is 27 and my eldest, my daughter, is 31.


Do you think they’d be offended, nowadays, about being called ‘two boys and a girl’?


Probably.


Is it difficult working alone, or do you like it?


There are so many jobs you want to do in a day where one is a problem. With two, you get the best of both worlds. But, if there’s a problem with the weather and there’s only one of you, it can be difficult. You can’t do what you’d like when the weather’s like this, whereas another pair of hands would correct


that problem. It would be better that way, definitely.


But you say ALS Contracts are coming in to help this afternoon. Is that frequent?


Yes. They’ll be coming in today [20th March] to do aeration work, and I’m going to book them in for next Thursday [29th March] as well, because we’ve got three games over Easter, for which we’ll need to get some more holes back into the pitch early enough for it to make a difference to playability. That’ll be about six times this season, which I don’t see as quite enough, but it’s better than what we used to get: almost never. Their standard verti‐drain offering goes to about nine inches, so that’s ideal for us. It’s a lot more than we can manage.


And do you have your own aeration equipment?


We have our own little verti‐drain too, but that was bought second‐hand before I arrived, so that makes it thirteen years old,


There are so many jobs you want to do in a day where one is a problem. With two, you get the best of both worlds. But, if there’s a problem with the weather and there’s only one of you, it can be difficult


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