FOOTBALL


More could be done in schools to promote what


we do. I never saw anyone representing our industry on careers day


From there, I worked with Sean Woodley at Wycombe Wanderers for a while, before going to Aldershot Town to help Colin who showed me the ropes here for six months before he was due to have an operation. When Colin came back to work, I asked him if I could look after the pitch full-time and, luckily for me, he agreed and made me Head Groundsman twelve months ago.” James is tasked with looking after the stadium pitch on a daily basis, which is a Fibresand construction with a full drainage system and an automatic irrigation system.


“It’s supposed to be Fibresand, but we have cleaned it off with the Koro year after year and, this year, there is not much left. It would be great if we could top it up sometime in the future to get the fibre content back to where it should be so we can achieve the optimum performance from the pitch.”


“The pitch generally drains very well; there is only a small problem in one of the corners where there is a bit of a dip. We have a fully automated Hunter irrigation system with pop-ups around the edge and in the middle of the pitch.”


The stadium has no real shade issues, with only the south stand causing James a small problem in the winter if they get a frost. “Other than the shade covering a few places, I’m lucky enough to get sunlight almost all year round. If the forecast is for a heavy frost, I will use frost covers to protect the pitch before a match. I have an army of volunteers who help me get them on. We don’t suffer much from frost down here; we


62 PC February/March 2020


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