FOOTBALL
carried out immediately after the match; he will go in on Sunday after he has finished at the golf club and start to repair the pitch. “I have a little ride-on brush that I have kind of manufactured. It’s a lightweight thing out of a Sisis Robbi that used to be for our 3G. I tend to brush the pitch two ways to flick up anything that has come away. That is followed up with a rake cassette that goes in the Allett C34, and we pick it up with that.” Most clubs use rotaries to clean up after games. Nick would invest in rotaries if he had more time but, for now, this method works for him.
As winter draws ever closer, Nick will have less time to carry out his maintenance. I asked him how he will get around this, “As we lose the light, we will then turn the floodlights on to get around if we are tidying up or cutting. To verti-drain, we have big lights fitted to the roll bar of the tractor front and back which puts down plenty of light. Then we just verti-drain in the dark till six o’clock. It’s a matter of just working around the problems.”
The pitch rarely suffers from disease as the ground is open, allowing plenty of airflow. There has been the odd occasion when they have had bits and pieces of fusarium kick off and a bit of leaf spot, but they have never sprayed a fungicide. “I don’t feel there is a need to do it, and we don’t suffer like somewhere that is a bit more enclosed, where it is damp all the time and it’s difficult to dry out. In September, we will get bits and pieces when its damp but, once we get a windy day, the pitch will dry out quickly; we are lucky in that respect.”
Nick puts his own fertiliser programme together after he has received the results of his independent soil tests. He tends to use quite a lot of organics on the pitch and tops this off with the odd recovery spray. When I first walked into the ground, the first thing I noticed was the SGL MU50 lighting rig standing proudly under the shaded area of the main stand. This was a shock to me as not many Football League clubs have lighting rigs, never mind a non-
league club, but I have got to say it was good to see. This, to me, shows the forward thinking of the club and that they are willing to invest in providing the best playing surface possible. Nick is very proud of the fact he has the rig at his disposal. “I believe more clubs should be looking at investing in lighting rigs as they are more affordable than most people think; the benefits are huge. We mainly use ours under the main stand and occasionally in the goalmouths now we have the extra cable. It has enabled us to keep grass cover in areas where we have struggled in the past. It is my insurance policy when it comes to keeping grass. It’s a brilliant tool.” Nick does not have frost covers at the club, as it’s a significant investment, and one that he feels is not necessary at this moment, and he doesn’t have the staff and time available to get them on and back off. If the club lose a game to the weather, it is, unfortunately, just one of those things. When it comes to renovation, Nick believes it is essential for every club, if
Golf, as an industry, is in decline. Golfing members and numbers are still dropping off from ten years ago
84
PC December/January 2019
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