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RUGBY


with that and ended up asking a mate at the time if he knew of any jobs in rugby as I didn’t want to leave the sport, and that’s how I ended up with the assistant groundsman job here ten years ago.” Lee took the position of Head Groundsman eighteen months ago at the beginning of last season. At the same time, the club were putting a new stadium pitch in. Lee has no official qualifications but has gained certificates from various courses he has attended in the past. “I have learned to be hands on, asking questions of friends in the industry such as Andy Thompson, Head Groundsman at Sheffield Wednesday FC, who is always on the phone for me, and the ex-head groundsman from here, Pete Needham, who is now head groundsman at


Doncaster Rovers; they are both a great help.” Lee’s current staff consists of Jake Marshall, 20 years old, who has been with the club as a full-time assistant groundsman for eight months; Andrew Huxley, 64 years old, who is a full-time gardener/groundsman, and Neil Poole, 39 years old, who is a full- time kitman/groundsman.


The facility consists of the new Eclipse Hybrid stadium pitch that was installed eighteen months ago, replacing the old rootzone pitch. Lee explains, “With the old pitch being unstable, we had many divots coming up, especially around scrums, which could cause injury to the players. So, the chairman and president decided to invest in a new pitch. A full new drainage system was


installed and a fully automated Rain Bird irrigation system consisting of twenty Rain Bird Eagle 950s on the outer and fifteen Rainbird 8005s in the centre.” Whilst on the subject, I ask Lee does he have to use any special methods when maintaining the Hybrid pitch on a day to day basis? “Not really; it is just like most other hybrid pitches. After a game, you need to give it a good clean up, rake it regularly and divot it. The main difference with this pitch, I have noticed, is that we have been putting on a lot more fertiliser. It’s gone from a two- weekly application to seven to ten days; the drainage is that good, it’s just leeching through the pitch.”


The pitch does not have undersoil heating, but they do have frost covers. Lee


PC December/January 2019 107


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