FOOTBALL
The club have always backed me massively and, in the years I’ve been here, they’ve supported each
”
renovation. So, this year, we’ve got a new irrigation system in, the year before we put in extra grass and
hybrid carpets at the back of the pitch for excessive warm-ups which take pressure off the pitch
depending on good groundswork and excessive manual labour.
But, when the campaign drew to a close, the team around Fir Park knew that more had to be done. “Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that there was no way we were going to drain this pitch unless we put in a secondary drainage system.” “Now, to put this in to context for those who will understand it, Fir Park as a pitch has some serious challenges. Firstly, you’ve got six inches of rootzone to work with, but there is also an old pitch directly beneath the surface which is as hard as concrete.” “That’s where the drainage is located, but
it’s at very random points and the drains run across the pitch, which is usually normal for a surface like this. But the slope which runs from one side to the other is about five feet in height, so it’s not normal at all.” “Basically, the water migrates down the slope which brings it’s challenges, because instead of sitting and migrating through the profile, the water moves.” He added: “We decided that the next plan of action was to take the top off the pitch entirely. Our samples showed us that we
were low in fibre, so we worked with Mansfield Sand to improve that and put more fibre in to our surface.”
“But none of that would matter if we didn’t have somewhere for the water to go, so we put trenches in which have been a great success.”
The trenches were going to be formed by a whizz wheel, which digs at a depth of nine inches, allowing for four inches of gravel to then be put inside the resulting trench. However, further hurdles were put in front
of Paul due to the existing heating system, which is located just eight inches below the surface and is a piping network running underneath the pitch, meaning the operation to install the trenches was proving extremely difficult. Raising the depth of the whizz wheel, the operation was a potentially dangerous one for the pitch as the team grazed over heating pipes in their bid to improve the drainage.
Challenges such as this are unavoidable though, as Paul explains: “The pitch is extremely difficult. Most other people would come in and they would just rip it out and start again. But we can’t here, so we have to manage it by pulling in all the best knowledge and putting to use my experience too.” After the drainage issue was tackled, attention turned to irrigation and, again, the club backed and supported Paul in his bid to improve what was widely regarded as one of the country’s worst surfaces. “The club have always backed me massively and, in the years I’ve been here, they’ve supported each renovation. So, this year, we’ve got a new irrigation system in, the year before we put in extra grass and hybrid carpets at the back of the pitch for excessive warm-ups which take pressure off the pitch.” “We’ve also put in an astro carpet on the main stand side of the pitch which are ideas I’ve put to the club and have been supported. But I understand that that wouldn’t be possible without the team doing as well as they do, getting to two cup finals
66 PC August/September 2018
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