After almost three weeks of intense football the 2010 African cup of Nations has come down to the last two nations. On Sunday evening Ghana will take on Egypt in Luanda for the right to be Champions of Africa. As the competition draws to a close we have been reflecting on what has been a busy time for the SIS crews. Taking out the three games from schedule after the tragic attack on the Togo team bus 28 games and approximately 24 training sessions have been facilitated on the four stadium pitches in three weeks. Many more sessions were held on the ten training pitches built by the SIS teams. On the whole the pitches have been well received by the players and coaches of the participating countries. During an interview with the worlds media this week Barcelona star Samuel Eto one of the highest profile African players playing in Europe praised the condition of the pitches saying they were best he can remember for an African cup competition. Even the two pitches in Luanda and Cabinda that were not quite up to scratch were deemed to be better than the run of mill pitches prepared in previous years. This sentiment was echoed by other association heads as well as FIFAs representative Walter Gagg. Walter is a senior member of footballs governing body and during the week he took the time to send an e mail to George Mullan the SIS CEO congratulating him on the company’s efforts. As you can imagine everyone has taken a huge lift from this although none of us are getting carried away. Following the close of the competition all the crews will be asked for their views good bad or indifferent. Critical self analysis like this can be a good thing and can help with the planning for future events. We know for instance the pitch in Luanda is not what it should be. We know the reasons why but it was the hand we were dealt and we simply had to get on with it. The Angolan climate has been as much a challenge as anything. Fierce heat in the mid thirties and humidity levels that left the stadium resembling a steam room were a daily challenge. My lasting memory of this was the game between Algeria and Malawi which kicked of at 2.45pm in temperatures of 42oC and humidity around 94%. I have never experienced anything like it and you really felt for the players that day. The performance of the Bermuda grass variety Princess 77 has continued to surprise me. The pitch in Luanda has been abused beyond belief yet despite being so young it has held in and continued to make progress. Stability has been the main issue in Luanda but the continued improvement of the Bermuda has helped the pitch through the three weeks. I honestly had my doubts after the second game. The feeding programme has been an education. Prepared by my colleagues from Sporting Lisbon I have never seen so much fertiliser applied. There judgement was spot on and the main reason I believe the pitch is still going. Beyond Sundays final the final piece of the contract will begin. Renovating the pitches and at the same time training local grounds men will go on over the next two months. I believe that when the company finally leave Angola all the pitches will be top condition. Just as Sunday’s final is kicking off I will be taking off from Luanda heading to London via Dubai. We have two games at Portman Road next week the first when our youth team continue their run in the FA youth cup against Fulham. This is followed by a home game for the first team on Saturday against Middlesbrough.

As I have been faced with fierce heat on a daily basis my crew have had to deal with the opposite as Britain has suffered its worst winter for several years. They have done brilliantly getting the two first team games on when many around them were going off. The two reserve games scheduled for the month did not take place. The first was as much down to conditions outside the ground while the second was moved to the training ground to help the crew maintain the pitch in good condition. We are one of very few top clubs still playing reserve games in the main stadium. In recent seasons we have sought to move January reserve games to the training centre to help maintain the pitch. Playing reserve games in the stadium is a costly business and sometimes it makes sense to move games. Once home February will  be a busy time as we finalise our Spring programme and I catch up on meetings that have been held as we prepare to host Pink in the summer. These concerts are huge and planning starts early. I know most people back home are having a moan about the cold weather but if I walk of the plane on Monday morning and it is freezing I will be delighted. I will know I am back home.