FOOTBALL


provision may be just about to rise up a couple of notches. After surveying likely locations for a new 3G pitch, Worcester FA has reportedly plumped for Evesham United for a new community football focus. Revealing this to me is club groundsman


S


Steve Dolphin, in the post for just over a year after his predecessor Nigel Gregg departed unexpectedly. Nigel was a runner-up in the FA’s 2015 Groundsman of the Year Southern Football League category in 2015, coming third in the national level 3 and 4 award, which


itting in one of England’s premier fruit-growing regions, Evesham United FC is at the heart of a thriving football community, and its scale of


covers the 208 clubs in the Evo-Stik Southern League, Northern Premier League and Ryman League, so Steve is stepping into some big shoes then.


“I’ve come into groundsmanship from the food and catering sector,” reveals Steve. “My previous job in a food factory in the area had come to an end and I was stuck for something else to do when the job here came up last summer.” Steve relished the prospect of what was advertised as a part-time position. “I saw it as a temporary move and my head said I could rise to the challenge,” states the 66- year-old.


That part-time role has burgeoned into what is effectively a full-time commitment. “In terms of the hours I do, it is full-time,” says Steve. Though a solo groundsman, he


works closely with a local sports contractor to help him with the heavier aspects of turfcare.


His responsibility rests not only with The


Robins’ Spiers & Hartwell Jubilee Stadium main pitch, but also no fewer than thirteen others next door. “We have five full-size, six junior areas and a couple of training pitches,” lists Steve.


If/when the 3G comes to Evesham, that’s another level of provision he’ll have to manage. “Yes. Schools locally already run artificial pitches, so the choice of where it will land has narrowed to us,” Steve explains.


The club maintains the junior and training football pitches for Wychavon District Council and Worcestershire County Council, who own the site.


PC October/November 2018 91


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