Whispering Grass

Spring in the air and a timely win.

2010-03-12T20:51:00Z

The heavy snows of January and February seemed a million miles away this week as we finished our second dry week in a row. Although the temperatures are slowly recovering the dry conditions have let us back on the pitches. After all the training in the wet weather our priority has been to get the top surfaces opened up. All the pitches have been slit tined and we are half way round the pitches with the Wiedenmann. The machine has been working with a 12mm tine operating to a centre of 80mm x 60mm and to a depth of 200mm. With the nights now stretching out a bit to around 6pm the extra two hours are helping with the catching up process. Temperatures over the early part of next week are forecast to get into double figures for the first time this year with the current day time temperature being the night temperature. After the damage from the weekend games is put back we will be applying a Spring feed of Scotts pro lite 6:5:10. We have applied this product in recent years at this time of the year and have had good results. Following this application we will begin our Spring over sow the first of two over seedings. This was something we did on a regular basis when the centre was first created. We missed a few years after our administration but happily have been able to restart it. Mascot R14 is the seed we use in the Spring. The five cultivar ryegrass mix helps to restore the live cover quickly ahead of the end of season renovation. As well as helping the pitches look good the added sward density helps to key in the new dressings that will be applied during the renovations. Tuesday night saw the first team beat Cardiff 2-0 at Portman Road. Our season has been up and down and must be really frustrating for manager Roy Keane. On their day our boys can beat anyone at Portman Road and the manner that they went about the game on Tuesday was pleasing for everyone connected at the club. We are at home again on Saturday to Scunthorpe and the hope is the boys can string two wins together something they have not been able to do to many times this year. For as frustrating as the season has been is it still possible that the lads can achieve a decent finish. I think the play offs are maybe beyond us but we can still lay down good foundations for next season. With the season ticket campaign under way for next season it is important that the results are positive. Let’s hope Spring is certainly in the air.

The perfect cover up and is the bubble about to burst

2010-02-28T21:34:00Z

After weeks of heavy snowfall and frost across the UK the countries pitches are now being hit by heavy rainfall. Up till now those clubs that have under soil heating have been able to play games during the cold snap and even facilitated training sessions at their main ground. To a lesser extent those with frost sheets have had a degree of success in keeping pitches playable enough to get games on. But what happens when it rains hard. Watching the Carling cup final today (Sunday) it was refreshing to see rain covers on Wembley. Covers have been used on pitches for a while with clubs usually going for frost protection. But in recent seasons we have had as many cancellations from rain as we have had from snow and frost. The cover used at Wembley is similar to ours and offers protection against all the weather elements that can cause a cancellation. The Football League will introduce criteria to their member clubs at the start of the 2010/11 season insisting that clubs have frost covers. It is a positive step forward but could go further in ensuring fixture schedules are kept up to date by insisting that the cover the clubs chose can give all round protection.

The perilous states of the finances in the game have been in the news again this week with Portsmouth going into Administration. Cash flow is vital to clubs getting through a season. The right covers can help and although getting every game on will not solve the money problems on their own they can help to keep things going. At Portman Road we know the pain Portsmouth are going though as we went through the same pain back in 2002. It is a horrible situation to find your club in and I hope Portsmouth can find a way back. Sadly I think more clubs will find difficulties before the situation gets better. I for one hope the Football Authorities can bring in regulation similar to that in Germany and Holland to force clubs to run on an even keel. Suddenly winning the Champions league is everything to some clubs and being in the Premiership is the be all and end all. I enjoyed our stay in the Premiership. Full houses every time we played at home and the games big names on my pitch every week was great. But when we went into administration everything went sour. Many local companies suffered as well as alot of my former colleagues. Don’t get me wrong I would love us to get back among the big time but this time to be able to do it on a sound footing that won’t risk the club going bust. There are many fine clubs in England with a proud tradition but we risk losing our game totally if some financial common sense is not brought in soon.

The week ahead promises to be drier and hopefully we can get out onto the pitches and start to catch up on some much needed maintenance. This weekend all the games were cancelled on the training centre the first time this has happened in the ten years the centre has been opened. We did play at Portman Road on Saturday against Bristol City and drew our 17^th game of the season. The short break certainly worked for us and despite some heavy rain going into the game the pitch played well and looked well. We now have 9 days to our next home game against Cardiff and with the drier milder weather with us I hope to over seed with Mascot R314 to get things moving. Two to three days tidying up the outfield and a light roll and we should be good to go.

Its sNOw fun any more.

2010-02-21T15:49:00Z

As the 4th major snowfall of the winter hit the UK towards the end of the week groundsmen around the country faced another difficult weekend. This winter seems to go on and on and is now the worst for over half a century. Coming at the end of half term week those having home games to prepare for will have had one of the busiest weeks for some time. My saving grace is that the fixture computer coupled with our early exit from the FA cup has seen us with no home game for three weeks. Portman Road is one of the oldest pitches in the Football League and has benefitted from its short break. It would have struggled had we had games over this period. We certainly used the break to our advantage. The pitch looked a bit sorry after the youth cup game against Fulham and the Championship game against Boro. The day after the Boro game we removed the North goal mouth and re turfed it. Footing was difficult for the keepers in the middle of the goal and it had to be put right. Thick cut fibre sand turf rolls 5 metres long and 40mm deep were laid. The new goal mouth has had a good period of time to bed in. I have had it rolled out three times and top dressed and it is now feeling good under foot. The pitch was also aerated using the Wiedenmann fitted with a 12mm solid tine working on a centre of 60mm x 40mm and 175mm deep. Playing games on any pitches during wet conditions is never good and is even worse on our old soil based pitch. The root zone will benefit from an injection of air. I have heard it said that air is the best fertiliser of all and it is free. It is a statement I whole heartily agree with. The surface was also brushed to clean up loose debris from the games. After repairing the small damage over a three day period the pitch has been left to rest. If you can manage it sometimes by doing nothing is the best thing you do for the pitch. I am confident the pitch will be in good shape for our game next week against Bristol City. The training grounds have taken a hammering over half term week. Weather conditions have been awful but we managed to play 7 out of the 9 games scheduled as well as hosting numerous training sessions. Damage has been heavy and renovating work to tidy the pitches up will get under way on Monday. We have already re turfed one goalmouth in the first team field and will do a second this week. I am desperate to get the pitches opened up but finding a suitable window to get the aerator out has been difficult. I am pleased that we have managed to keep the first team working. Dan Oliver our first team groundman at the training ground has done an admirable job. Our win at Sheffield Wednesday yesterday lifted us out of the bottom three and was welcome after the disappointment of losing at Peterborough in mid week. The games are coming thick and fast for the first team with two more this week. On Tuesday we play away to Scunthorpe. This is our game in hand and victory would lift us up several places. The league is so tight and a couple of back to back wins can make a huge difference. If effort counts for anything then we will be ok as Roy Keane and his team are putting in the hours on the training ground as well as clocking up the miles watching future opponents.

Fighting the ravages of an English winter

2010-02-14T17:16:00Z

The cold snap that has affected the majority of the country in recent weeks shows no sign of letting up. Groundsmen around the country are facing a tough task week in week out in getting stadium pitches prepared for league and cup games. This is a vital time of the season for clubs chasing promotion or getting to the latter stage of the cups or just trying to stay in the league they started the season in. Groundsmen are very proud people and we all like to have our pitches in pristine condition every time they are played on but conditions around the country since the start of the year have made this difficult. It’s not only stadium pitches that are difficult to maintain at times like this training grounds can be just as difficult if not more difficult. Most clubs have some form of pitch protection at their stadiums and when the training grounds become unplayable the professional squads fall back on the main pitch to train as well. I can honestly say no grounds man likes having regular training on his pride and joy but at some point of the season it is necessary. This winter has seen stadium pitches pressed into use as training pitches on a more regular basis. By watching TV pictures from grounds around the country you can see the extra wear being inflicted on the pitches. Groundsmen around the country are working overtime just now trying to keep their teams going. Recent articles in trade press have highlighted some heroics at grounds over the festive period. You have to take your hat off to people like Jason Booth at Leeds Rhinos who organised a crew to clear snow of the Headingly pitch at 10pm on Christmas day working through the night in order to get there Boxing day game on. Or Dave Mitchell at Carlisle who pumped thousands of gallons of water of the Brundon park pitch after heavy flooding to get a game on. Holiday games are big earners for the clubs and groundsmen are often the unsung heroes in keeping these games on and maintaining vital cash flow. Sometimes putting a game on brings more problems. Excessive wear in key areas such as goalmouths can lead to essential mid season repairs. We have just finished re turfing our North goal mouth. The four games since New Year left the North goal difficult for the keepers. When pitches I have prepared are played on I like them to be fair to both teams and safe for all the players. Having re turfed the goal will get us back to that. We are fortunate that the excellent autumn weather allowed us to go into the winter in a strong position. We fortunate t have a break in the stadium schedule. Our exit from the FA cup coupled with three away games on the trot will give us the time to get the main pitch back in order. As well as the North goal the pitch has been brushed and aerated. An application of 4:0:8 invigorator will help pick the sward up and put some colour back into it following the cold snap. The rest of the time will be spent repairing the first team pitches on the training grounds. At least four goal mouths will require attention as well as picking up damage in the outfields. We are fortunate to have the 11 pitches at times like this. The works can be done while still keeping the team working. Next week is half term. This is an important time for the academy as they look to sign new players who will take up professional scholarships. It is also a time when younger players will undergo trials and try to join the schoolboy ranks. We have 9 games scheduled for the training grounds next week as well as numerous training sessions. This is the busiest half term of the year and we will be pulling out all the stops to ensure all games can be played. My hope is that the weather picks up soon and we can all get back to normal.

Were not on a level playing field.

2010-02-07T17:49:00Z

After three weeks in Angola I arrived back at Heathrow on Monday afternoon 18 hours after leaving Luanda. The African experience was certainly one that I am glad to have to have done.

I arrived back at Portman Road late on Monday and immediately sought out my team. They were busy preparing the pitch for Tuesdays FA youth cup game against Fulham. A slight frost was almost out of the pitch and the final preparation was left to the match day. Fortunately the pitch had been rolled out following the last game and most of the small damage had been re instated. The youth cup has become a sore subject for me in recent years. I think the competition is great and offers the young pros a chance to play in the country’s top stadiums. At least that’s how it is supposed to be. In recent seasons many of the big clubs have been given permission to play the early rounds away from their main stadium only playing at home from the quarter final the idea being to protect the pitches during the winter. The quarter finals don’t take place till March. In the last round we played Arsenal at Barnets Underhill stadium. No disrespect to Barnet the pitch and facilities were superb for the time of year but our kids should have played at the Emirates. Three out of the last four seasons we have played a youth cup tie at home days ahead of an important first team game. Tuesday night in Ipswich was wet and cold with Heavy rain falling throughout the game. Most grounds men will tell you that the damage from a kid’s game is much worse than the damage from a first team game. This is because the kids tend to slide in more often. We duly picked up quite a bit of damage. It will repair but the pitch won’t be in its usual tip top condition for Saturday’s home game. Clubs like ours enter into the youth cup in good faith accepting we will have to play games in and around the first team schedule at a difficult time of the season if drawn at home. This can be problematic and something I am trying to change. I am in favour of the youth cup taking a winter break of two months through January and February. This would allow clubs to reduce the usage during the worst period of the year. We also play the majority of our reserve games there so January and February can be quite congested. Such a break should find favour with most clubs and should allow then to play the games at home and not a third party stadium. It would put us on a level playing field.

Our training pitches have like most training grounds taken a real hammering over January. Having walked the pitches in the week I was happy that they were still in reasonable shape. There were signs of damage and the pitches that were cleared during the big freeze will need to be rested for several weeks. It is at times like this we are fortunate to have the 11 pitches. Several pitches had succumbed to Fussarium. This had crept in under the snow. It has been treated and on Thursday the pitches were fed with Scotts Invigorator fertiliser. The 4:0:8 analyses is ideal for the time of year to give the pitches a boost. The Iron content in the fertiliser also helps to lift the colour. After Saturdays game we have a break of just over two weeks in the stadium. It is unusual for us to have such a break at this time of the year but we are out of the cup and have a run of away games in the league. We will use the time to tidy the pitch up and give it a well earned rest.

Down to the last two praise from Samuel Eto and heading home.

2010-02-02T16:09:00Z

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.

Football in Angola beyond the African Cup and after the big freeze comes the big thaw

2010-01-23T18:08:00Z

The African Cup of Nations in group A has been concluded with the host nation winning the group. It’s always good for any tournament when the hosts stay in the competition. When Angola play in the 11^th November Stadium the place is full of noise and colour which you would expect from this competition. If there was a prize though for the most colourful fans it would surely go to the fans of Burkino Faso. The 150 strong contingent were as bright and noisy as any I have ever seen. As I have been working in the stadium over the past few days my thoughts have turned to what might happen here in Angola beyond the tournament. I have been speaking to Mr. Maniche the stadium manager. Mr.Maniche works in the Angolan government and is on a special deployment for the competition. He tells me that after the final game the stadium will host games in the National league. Stadia are scarce in Angola and in the city of Luanda several teams play in the same stadium. My colleagues have been to the old national stadium as it is one of the training venues. It’s not one SIS worked on and reports are it is in a poor state. The pitch is rutted and holed and even the most basic equipment is not available to the grounds man. Quite a contrast then to what they are going to inherit after the final on the 31^st. The country now has four brand new stadia built to FIFA standard and another 10 specially built training pitches. The game in Angola will certainly benefit from this addition. The grounds man will also notice a massive change in there working environment. Part of the SIS contract beyond the final is to train local grounds man to look after the pitches. They are going to have some of the most state of the art equipment to hand to carry out their work. All pitches have automatic irrigation systems. Quite a thing in itself in a country where the majority of the population do not have access to running water. A large part of the contract was also the supply of machinery. Approximately $1.2 million dollars worth of kit in the shape of tractors mowers markers and tools are all now here in Angola. 40hp New Holland tractors are on each site supported by two larger 95 hp machines that can move between the venues. The training centres are mown by Toro ride on machines while a Fleet of Mastiffs have just arrived this week after logistic problems in transit. Line marking will now be carried out using Fleet Kombis. Attachments for the tractors include seeding machines verti drains top dressers and slit tine machines as well as sprayers are now all here. The government have been criticised for the money spent to bring the tournament here to Angola while the needs of the people are great. As well as the stadia new roads and an airport terminal have been added to Luanda. One of the hardest parts of the day is the journey to work from the hotel to the stadium. The poverty is shocking and heart breaking. My personal hope for Angola is that football the global game can help move this country forward. There is no reason why the stadia can’t become community stadia as many in the UK and Europe are. The new suites and rooms can offer readymade educational rooms for the children while clinics could be held in the medical areas when they are not being used for football. If the government take this route then the effort will have been worthwhile and the criticism should ease.

Back in the UK the big freeze has given way to the big thaw. My crew did a great job getting last Saturday’s game against Coventry on. Their efforts were rewarded when the team won with a last minute goal from Pablo Counago. Pablo is a popular player with both fans and staff and had not been playing regularly. He feeds on confidence like any player and will take a huge boost from his goal which from all accounts was a bit special. The thaw has brought the usual problems with it with mould being treated on all pitches. Thankfully our aeration programme has allowed much of the rapidly thawing snow to pass through the pitch tops without causing too much trouble. I have to mention our under 18 team who this week knocked Arsenal out of the FA Youth Cup. Any victory over a big club is special but this was the third time our kids have beaten them at this level this season.

Working with Bermuda and the Big Freeze goes on

2010-01-17T14:43:00Z

In this post I am going to talk about two extremes. I am still in Angola working in the National stadium in Luanda looking after the games in group A of the African cup of Nations. This has been my first prolonged experience with warm season grasses and I have to say I have been impressed. This pitch has been hammered and does not have any right to have a single leaf of grass on it. This tournament for the government of Angola is about showing the world they are on the up. In a city of up to 8 million people only a very small percentage live a decent life. The run up and opening ceremony was all rehearsed on the pitch with no protection. The leaf was pounded into the ground but amazingly has started to pick up. A bigger problem for the pitch is the sand that forms part of the rootzone. There is millions of tons of sand in Angola but none of it suitable for building pitches. As a result the surface is not as stable as we would want it. The Bermuda roots are going into it but need time to develop. Time is not on its side. The main activity on the pitch is rolling. I have never rolled a pitch so much and anyone watching us would think we were preparing for a cricket match. Carlos Riess my colleague from Sporting Lisbon has put to gether a feeding programme. The programme is very aggressive and geared to pushing the pitch on. As well as the high rate of Nitrogen required the pitch also has to be regularly sprayed with Fugicide to guard against disease. If this pitch is to make through the three weeks we cannot afford to succumb to any fungal attack. After our second game we over sowed the pitch with another 50 kilos of the Princess 77 variety. After our double header this week on Thursday we only have one game in nine days and our aim is to recover the pitch as much as possible and start building towards the show piece final. Luanda is not the only pitch the SIS company has built in Angola for the competition. Another 13 pitches were built including three stadium pitches as well as a number of training pitches. All the others are mostly Bermuda with the only Ryegrass pitch in Lubango. All pitches are going as well as can be expected.

Back in Ipswich my crew are building towards Saturdays game with Coventry. The pitch has been under the cover for almost two weeks and the hope is to get it of by the end of the week. Snow clearing has been going on around the stadium as the club have as big a responsibility to the surrounds as they do to the pitch. We have been lucky over the New Year period in as most of our games have been away from home. The training centre has been more difficult as almost two feet of snow had built up over a period of time. The lads have managed to get the team on grass by clearing snow. It is important to try and keep the team active.

Out of Africa

2010-01-10T11:11:00Z

A Belated Happy New Year to everyone who reads my blog. In my job every now and then great opportunities come along. I am enjoying such an opportunity right now writing this post in my Hotel room in Luanda Angola. For the next three weeks I am on a working holiday helping with the maintenance of the new pitch at the National stadium ahead of the African cup of Nations. Football is a global game but things are certainly different here in Angola. Support in Sport are the company who took on a contract to deliver 14 pitches for the tournament. I have to take my hat of the Support CEO George Mullan for having the courage to take this on. Building 14 pitches anywhere is a tall order but to do it in Africa takes some doing. Despite problems along the way with delayed contract signings customs problems and African life in general the pitches are ready to go from Sunday night. I am working in a team of three supported by local labour. Carlos Riera who I first met while doing a re turf at Sporting Lisbon is leading the site. Carlos has huge experience in warm season grasses and being Portuguese is ideal to deal with the locals.

The stadium pitch is grown with Bermuda grass the variety is Princess 77. The stadium pitch build and grow in is about 10 weeks behind schedule and as a result is the youngest of all the pitches. Not ideal when you consider it also has to take the opening ceremony which entails 2,500 people displaying Angola culture. This week we have had two full rehearsals and four training games. The surface is not ideal but in this part of the world is still a decent pitch. I have been impressed by the Bermudas strength. Lesser pitches would have vanished by now. The pitch has a decent root and we expect it to get stronger as the competition goes on. In total we will have 9 games to play in the national stadium. One of the problems I mentioned was customs. Many of the machines were held in customs for a while. This was not ideal for the any of the pitches as the programme time line was always tight. Now that the key pieces are on site and in action a near normal maintenance is being carried out. Natural problems are also difficult namely the heat and high humidity. Day temperatures reach the mid 30sC and humidity is high all the time. Careful use of the irrigation system is vital in tempering the heat on the leaf. Over the next few weeks I will keep you updated on the Africa cup.

While I am enjoying the heat of Angola my team back home have been hit by the freeze. Like most of the UK the clubs daily football routines have stopped. The team have trained indoors in the dome and managed to tick over. The boys are away at Leicester on Sunday and the game is now on TV. The main pitch is covered and is playable ahead of the game next Saturday.

Ending the year on a high and off to Africa.

2009-12-31T20:06:00Z

After an indifferent start to the season where we were rooted to the bottom of the league for weeks we ended the year on a high with an emphatic 3-0 win over QPR on the 28^th. Portman Road housed our second biggest crowd of the season 25,300 and the majority left the ground very happy. The team are up to 19^th in the league and moving in the right direction. In this league there are enough games left to still get around the play offs come May. All the hard work to keep the game on was worthwhile and I can’t praise my young team enough for the way they stuck at the task.

The mood around the club on Tuesday was also much brighter. The plan we set out at the start of the week worked well. I always felt that because the game was scheduled for the Monday the extra 48 hours would work in our favour. The heavy snow that fell in the build up to Christmas was melted away from Tuesday under the cover. By Christmas Eve all 6 centimetres had disappeared The controlled thaw under the cover prevented the pitch becoming water logged allowing the surface to stay firm. We continued to pump warm air via our natural gas burner right through till Sunday morning (27^th). We took the covers of the pitch and carried out a full pre match before covering the pitch in the afternoon ahead of the frost forecast through the evening.

Matchday morning saw the frost hang around till 10.00 am. At 10.30 am we removed the cover from the pitch and put the goals back in. The covers did their job once again and have never come close to letting us down in the ten years we have had them. I continue to be surprised that more clubs have never taken the system on as it is user friendly and is the only cover system that is effective against rain frost and snow.

The New Year is almost on us and I am fortunate to be off to Africa to help advise on the pitches for the African Cup of Nations being held in Angola. It is a unique opportunity for me and one I am looking forward to. Through the wonders of modern technology I am hoping to continue my posts from Luanda in Angola. The first team are heading for Blackpool in the 3^rd round of the FA cup weather permitting. In football things are always on the go and 2010 shows no signs of being different.

Happy New Year everyone.

Undercover operation.

2009-12-24T18:29:00Z

The build up to the festive period is well under way. Away from the main seasonal renovations the 10 days coming up can be the busiest of the season. Two matches in three days then into the FA cup can be a defining time in the season for a lot of teams. The perfect Christmas present for any grounds man leading into this period would be a mild dry spell as both training pitches and stadium pitches have to be prepared. Contrast this then with some of the worst snow seen in Britain for years. In Suffolk last week’s fall was the worst in 18 years and saw the County grind to a halt. Fortunately for us the fixture computer has been kind and our holiday game at home is not till the 28^th. Holiday games are generally well attended and can be big revenue earners for the clubs. Pressure is then on the grounds man to ensure the games take place. At Portman Road we protect the pitch with our McLeod Coverflex pitch cover. The system is made up of seven sections of sheet supported by an inflatable tube running through the centre of the pitch from goal to goal. When fully inflated the tube has a ceiling height of 5.5 metres. With the sheets zipped together the entire playing surface is protected. I have loved this system since I first saw it being used in Holland 10 years ago. Along with the Manufacturers I have helped to develop the system and in my opinion it is the only cover system that gives the grounds man full control over the surface conditions running into a game. When the system is fully operational you create a micro climate within a micro climate but one that you are in control of. Rain, Frost and Snow can be managed.

The trouble with the holiday period is just that most people are on holiday. This means that plans for games have to be made several days in advance to ensure a smooth match day. Most suppliers are looking to wind down in the days ahead of the big day. Last Tuesday I attended the pre match meeting for the QPR game along with my co coordinator. Normally I would let her attend the meeting on her own but the severe weather has made the build up to this game complex. At the meeting are all departments within the club responsible for putting the game on. As well as advising the general meeting agreements with key departments such as stadium and security are vital to my own team to ensure we have as free an access around the pitch and to our work area as possible on the Match day.

Ahead of every I keep a close watch on the weather. The club pay for a detailed service each year and the information is very accurate. I can see a 24 hour period hour by hour or a five day period every three hours. I can also see a longer term forecast over 12 days. This information is passed onto my colleagues to enable the right decisions to be made. Largely based on this I set the plans for our preparation accordingly. I decided to deploy the cover system early in the week because the volume of snow was so great. Just over 7centimetres covered the pitch last Monday. At this point we still had a fair way to go to our game. We have in the past melted snow from the pitch and played games but never this much. The heater was switched on at 2 pm Tuesday and 45 hours later the pitch is ready to go. We will probably remove the cover on Sunday to complete pre match preparations before covering it again on Sunday night.

All we need now is a win and we have the perfect Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Out of the bottom three and it’s snowing.

2009-12-18T14:46:00Z

For the first time in a long while the team are out of the bottom three thanks to a 3-1 victory against Blackpool last Saturday at Portman Road. Needless to say everyone at the club was on a high on Monday as just seeing the team above the relegation line has given everyone a huge boost. When a team spends a while at the bottom like we did rumours about budgets and jobs abound. It’s part of the crazy world that is professional football and sadly I have seen and heard it all before. I am not one for focussing on negatives and there are not many teams at the bottom of the league that can boast only one loss in 15 games. Work is well under way on the planning for our 2010 renovations. All the renovation equipment is now away at various workshops being reconditioned ahead of the works starting in March.

Christmas is a busy time in football with games coming thick and fast. For the first time is long time we are away on Boxing Day. Our next home game is on the 28^th against QPR. I am really glad about this as the heaviest snow in 18 years has fallen in Suffolk. The forecast is for things to slowly pick up to wards the end of year so fingers crossed. Although the team are away for the next two games we still have to provide training pitches. This will keep us busy over the holiday period. I am also taking the chance to deep aerate the pitches at the academy when the boys are of for their Christmas break.

I am really enjoying writing the blog and will have more interesting posts in the New Year.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Let there be light.

2009-12-10T19:47:00Z

We are at a time of the season when stadium pitches get little light and maximum play. One of the most important ingredients’ for promoting green plant growth is sunlight. Today’s modern stadiums are magnificent theatres for watching football. They have all the creature comforts the modern day fan could wish for. A far cry from yesteryear. But while they are good for the fans they have become a nightmare for the grounds man especially in the winter months. To try and ease the problems of losing total grass cover in the months of December, January and February clubs have initiated various measures to combat this. The first and the most obvious were to reduce the number of games played on the pitch in a season. Many of the top clubs now play all of the second team games away from the main stadium. The average stadium schedule now is around 30 games. But perhaps the most revolutionary one has been the introduction of lighting rigs. Most of the top clubs playing in the premiership have had varying numbers of these rigs for the past three to four years. The lights have come from two companies one based in Holland and one based in Norway. To make a real difference a club needs around 4 rigs. At £50,000 per rig the cost to clubs beyond the big league is difficult. No one can argue the improvement in premiership pitches in recent years. Watch match of the day on a Saturday night and you won’t see a bad pitch.

But professional football is played beyond the Premiership and the same lack of light issue exists for many of the clubs throughout the Football league. At Ipswich we have a desire to have lights to help boost the growth in the darker areas of the pitch within the stadium but just as big an issue for us is the tight budget we have to work to. Although we can’t manage the larger units for now we have built our own mini rig for use in the South goal which is in darkness for virtually four months of the year from November to February. This is the second year we have used the mini rig and the results have been impressive. Our next challenge is to persuade the club to allow us to build at least two more to boost coverage in the South west corner.

We are in a busy week in the run up to the festive period. Tuesday night’s home game against Peterborough brought yet another draw. Saturday will see the second game on the pitch in four days when we entertain high flying Blackpool. My team are busy turning the main pitch around. Surface cleaning and divoting are the early order of the day before we start to roll the surface out for Saturday’s game. With the weather in our favour the first game went well and the forecast for Saturday is also looking good. Once we get the second game done we will aerate the pitch and rest it ahead of the busy festive period.

Singing in the Valleys and it’s still raining.

2009-12-03T20:36:00Z

After surviving the rain and wind during my recent visit to Cardiff to watch Scotland I returned last Sunday to watch Ipswich play their latest away game. Talking with Phil Williams the Cardiff grounds man before the game it’s hard not to feel sorry for him. Up till last Sundays game they had 29 consecutive days rain. Playing one winter sport on the pitch would be hard enough in such conditions but hosting two must be nearly impossible. It’s a credit to the team looking after the pitch that it is still playing ok. Being a reinforced pitch certainly helps but even with the latest technology it still leaves the grounds team with plenty to do. I have been through similar periods both in Ipswich and when I worked in Scotland. Groundsmen managing pitches in such conditions will always have to make difficult decisions. There will always be a pressure from clubs to get onto the pitch and carry out the many tasks that need doing and keep fixtures on. Gate revenue is vital to any stadium or club and it sometimes takes a spell like this to make other realise how important our job is. In almost most all situations like this working in really wet conditions will lead to problems later on. The sensible decision is to stay of the pitch and until the wet weather clears up. Groundsmen need to stay strong but clubs need to give them a break and not put them under any unnecessary pressure. Despite the bad weather Ipswich recorded their first away win of the season. The 1000 or so fans that made the long journey certainly raised the roof at the end of the game. Our autumn programme has been put on hold for most of the week. November has seen record rain levels fall across the UK and like the majority of the country we have had our share. Although training has carried on and we have managed to play the games on the training centre that were scheduled the work has focussed on re instating the pitches after each session and game by carrying out alot of hand forking. I don’t know a grounds man anywhere that likes doing alot of this work but it is necessary. In conditions as wet as we have experienced recently it is important to keep machines of the pitches as much as possible. I am sure things will turn drier and cooler soon. Our saving grace has been not having any first team games at home during the wet spell. That will change next week when we play two home games in the Championship.

More draws than Billy the kid and Rain, Rain, Rain

2009-11-27T10:26:00Z

Another week and another draw. The first team drew their 10^th game of the season on Saturday in the Sky live game at home to Sheffield Wednesday. As you can see from my title even I am getting in on the act with draw jokes. I am sure the players and coaching staff are fed up with them and to be fair to them they are unbeaten in six games. Signs are we have turned the corner but in a results business they do not need me to tell them that we need to turn draws into wins. Despite the team sitting in second bottom place the business side of the club has to go on. Plans are well under way regarding the Pink concert to be held in the stadium in June. Our stadium manager has met with various people who he will work with to deliver the gig. Once the first series of meetings have been held over the next few weeks we will know the exact site that the stage will occupy on the pitch as well as the size and weight of it. I have already given my thoughts and I am always going to go for the location and set up which will keep the majority of the stage of the pitch. I know the surface will be damaged but we can do a lot to limit it. Being involved in the early planning should benefit us come the summer. As well as having one eye on the concert plans are well underway with the plans for our 2010 spring renovation programme. Requests for costs have gone out to all our suppliers. The renovation equipment is about to undergo its winter overhaul in readiness for a March start. I am also getting quite a few requests from various quarters within the club to use the pitch for end of season games. It is the role of my coordinator to look at all requests and see how many we can fit in. The concert will deny us several dates where we could host minor games. Fans love the opportunity to play on a professional pitch and we will try to make as many dreams come true as possible.

No matter where you have been in the country in the last few weeks you will have got wet. After a dry spell even the South East has had its share. But none of us can compare or complain with the North West especially those in Cumbria. Your heart goes out to the poor people whose lives have been turned upside down. Within their number will be grounds men. I saw TV pictures of Carlisle United’s ground last Thursday with over 30% of it under several centimetres of water. Despite the deluge they were still talking about playing on Saturday. I thought no chance so imagine my surprise when I found out they had managed to put their game against Swindon on. Despite losing the game to Swindon it was a magnificent effort of team work and groundsmanship in extreme conditions. Well done to all concerned. Despite a couple of wet days preventing us running tractors across our pitches our aeration programme is going well. We are currently carrying out a root pricking exercise using 8mm needle tines. The tines are set on multi blocks in sets of eight. The aim is to give as much opportunity for the small white roots that come horizontally of the crown of the plant and drop vertically down the holes. We have benefited hugely in recent years from this practice. Encouraging such young roots to develop in this way builds up the mass of natural root in the top surface helping to hold the entire root zone region together and provide the playability the players expect.