FOOTBALL
I think the only way to raise our profile is to do it ourselves. By that I mean pushing for
”
opportunities to promote what we do, and if someone wants to do an interview, jump at the chance
drives me mad!”
“The Oval stadium sits on a large site and maintaining it is not easy. We leave some areas of the stadium uncut and, within these areas, various wildflowers grow, such as Red Clover, Cornflower, Forget-me-not and Marsh Marigold. Other plants, such as willow herb and thistle, are all left untouched to flourish, and they attract wildlife such as bees and butterflies.”
William certainly believes the job of a groundsman is undervalued and suggests the task of increasing the profile is for groundcare professionals to stand up for themselves.
“I would say we are undervalued,” he said. “If the football pitch is in poor condition, then the quality of the game is adversely affected so we must strive to produce the best playing surface that we can.”
“The skills of the grounds staff are vital in producing that surface, but without the
resources, without the money being made available, there are limitations as to what we can achieve.” “People will criticise pitches, which they are entitled to do, but they shouldn’t criticise pitches on one hand, but not give the grounds staff sufficient funding on the other hand to purchase the materials needed to improve the quality of pitches.”
“I think the only way to raise our profile is to do it ourselves. By that I mean pushing for opportunities to promote what we do, and if someone wants to do an interview, jump at the chance.”
“I felt that grounds staff weren’t getting enough credit for the job that they were doing, often on shoestring budgets, and that we were always at the bottom of the pecking order when it came to budgets and funding.”
“Most fans pay attention to the game being played on the pitch, and not
necessarily noticing how well that pitch looks or wondering how long the grounds staff spent preparing for the game, or even knowing the name of the person who prepared the pitch.” “At Glentoran FC, I decided to raise my own profile and my pitch. I have already mentioned that I write articles for the Glen’s match day programme and that is one way of raising my profile amongst the Glentoran faithful, so I would say that most Glens fans will know my name by now.” “Also recently, I have done interviews with BBC NI, the Belfast Telegraph and now more exclusively with Chris from Pitchcare to explain how we are coping with maintaining our pitches whilst in lockdown, all with the aim of raising the profile of grounds staff,” he concluded.
PC August/September 2020
53
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