FOOTBALL


Temporary sprinkler system


We don’t have any irrigation here, which is a bugger in the summer months


matchdays from the previous owner of the club, and a contractor is responsible for the upkeep of the pitch. Luckily, I have a good relationship with the head groundsman there, Mark Walker, who has been there for eighteen months now. We are in regular contact and sometimes, on a match day, I will go and give him a hand. There have been numerous times when he has lent me equipment for here, and it’s a nice relationship to have.”


“We cut the pitches using our Baroness


LM2700 fairway machine, and we let the grass fly, I would like to box off, but I don’t have enough staff. But we do vacuum up the pitches a few times a week with the Kubota G21, so the way I look at it is the majority of grass clippings will get picked up. We also rake it regularly with the spring tine rake which helps keep the surface clean. We will divot the first team pitches when we get the chance.”


“I aerate the first team pitches every ten days with our Charterhouse 7316 Verti- Drain using 18mm tines at varying depths between four and ten inches. The academy pitches are spiked every six weeks, but they do drain better than the first team pitches for some reason.”


Scott doesn’t have the biggest of budgets for his fertiliser programme so, like his maintenance regime, the first team pitches take priority. “We use a couple of applications of a 3-4 month slow-release polymer-coated fertiliser with three applications of a liquid feed on the academy pitches per season to give them a boost. I have not yet had any soil samples taken from the first-team pitches or any other tests for that matter, as I have


People see pictures on the television of top clubs, and then look at pitches in the lower leagues and grassroots level and don’t understand why they are not in the same condition


Head Groundsman, Scott Humphries 74 PC December/January 2020


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