FOOTBALL


Motherwell Football Club


The Lanarkshire-based club, who play their football at Fir Park, has been crowned the best surface in the country’s top flight following a study organised by the Player’s Association, Sports Labs and the Scottish FA.


But it hasn’t been a seamless journey for the football club, and particularly Head Groundsman Paul Matthew, who is


Rags to riches I


From the laughing stock of the Scottish Premiership to the best pitch in the league in seven short years, the work of Head Groundsman Paul Matthew has been praised by both the SPL players and an enthusiastic and proactive board of directors


t is hard to imagine that, in the space of just seven years, Motherwell Football Club has turned their pitch from the worst in the Scottish Premiership, to the best.


preparing for the 2018/19 campaign having carried out yet another major renovation to maintain the high standard of playing surface at one of the league’s most ambitious clubs, with one of the league’s smallest budgets.


From the dark days of abandoned matches and a surface resembling dirt tracks, Fir Park is now the finest place for the country’s top stars to step out and play their football. And it's been a lot of work. “When I first came in, the first thing I saw was a pitch that showed bad practice,”


Paul explained. “But, until we had a proper look and took some time to do test digs to gather information on the pitch, we couldn’t be sure just how bad a condition it was actually in.”


“From the tests, I could gather information on the work that had been done before and the previous renovations that had been carried out over a number of years, prior to me getting here.” “Next up was the task of formulating a plan about carrying out the very first thing that this pitch needed - draining surface water.”


62 PC August/September 2018


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