An Update From Scott MacCallum

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I must start this month by passing on the thoughts of all at Turf Matters to those groundsmen and their fellow staff at Bury Football Club. The euphoria of promotion last season had not long died down when the doors closed for the last time with expulsion from the league structure.

 

It is absolutely devastating for all the staff and supporters who had taken huge pride in supporting a club which had been part of the Bury community since 1885 and it shows just how precarious the situation for a great many clubs within the football league structure.

Bolton Wanderers were given a reprieve well into Fergie time and we all hope that their struggles are now behind them, but it does not require a huge leap in imagination to see similar Bury and Bolton scenarios occurring in other clubs.

Reputation and history counts for nothing. Just look at Rangers north of the border. After going into liquidation in 2012 the blue half of the Old Firm returned, but only in the bottom tier and it took a number of years to return to the Scottish Premiership, filling the ground of ever hosting club along the way.. It is good to see them back, but Steven Gerrard is operating on a fraction of the budget of Neil Lennon at Celtic, albeit still much more that the rest of the other rival clubs.

I’m sure Bury will not die entirely and will no doubt return in reduced form well down the football structure but that will be of no solace to those who relied on salaries to pay the bills.

To change sports and offer a comment on a brighter note – wasn’t Ben Stokes something else? Sporting moments like that at Headingley can galvanise a country. So well done, Ben, for achieving something no-one else has accomplished for quite some time.

Cobra’s Breast Cancer Mower

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Cobra’s Breast Cancer Mower: Cobra garden machinery are proud to have teamed up with the Breast Cancer Now charity to produce a limited edition pink Cobra GTRM38P electric lawnmower with the aim to help fund the future of breast cancer research.

“We have colleagues, family and friends who have been effected by this life changing illness and so we decided that this would be a great idea to raise money for this excellent charity. Breast Cancer Now is the UK’s largest breast cancer research charity and are dedicated to funding research into this devastating disease,” explained Peter Chaloner managing director of Cobra.

Cobra's Breast Cancer Mower

The company donates £25 from every sale to the charity and the entire stock will be sold, making a total donation of £5000. The electric machine has a 38cm/15” cutting width and its rear roller will deliver those much sought after stripes.

Grass cuttings are either collected in the 40 litre bag or can be discharged as a mulch to help fertilise the lawn.  It has seven different heights of cut and comes with 10 metres of electric cable.  The machine has a two year guarantee and sells for £99.99 in specialist Cobra garden machinery dealers. See cobragarden.co.uk for further details.

“We have been delighted with the customer support for our pink mower and plan to offer it for sale again in 2020,” says Peter,  “We hope to make even more money for Breast Cancer Now.”

Cobra products are available to buy online at the Cobra store or via a network of expert dealers across the UK.

For more information visit www.cobragarden.co.uk

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GSK Couldn’t Be Without ELMO

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GSK couldn’t be without ELMO: British multinational pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has explained the benefits of having adopted Husqvarna Automower® technology to maintain the green spaces around its Global head office in Brentford over the past three years.

GSK house in Brentford has relied on ELMO, a robotic lawnmower manufactured by Husqvarna and named by GSK staff, to work unassisted and maintain a large lawn area surrounding its headquarters.

GSK couldn’t be without ELMO

ELMO stands for Electronic Lawn Mowing Operative and is a Husqvarna Automower® – a robotic lawnmower which is able to maintain green spaces up to 5000m2 per machine. Installed in 2017 by Sodexo, GSK’s grounds maintenance provider, the robotic mower has quietly gone about its business and without disturbing office staff, cutting little and often through its random mowing pattern, ensuring that grass of GSK house remains a lush, healthy green.

The Husqvarna Automower® has freed up time, allowing the grounds staff to spend more hours on maintaining other, more labour intensive areas of the GSK site. Husqvarna Automower® is an environmentally friendly machine and means that the team now does not need to use as many petrol machines in order to keep the grounds looking pristine.

Sodexo’s Senior Facilities Service Manager for GSK, Michelle Chapman, commented: “ELMO has truly become part of the family at GSK house – our staff just love watching the robot work and GSK couldn’t be without ELMO now.

“For us, the Husqvarna Automower® means time saved and an environmentally way for us to manage the green spaces at our headquarters whilst improving the lawn appearance. It gives the grounds team more time to focus on other, more crucial things and the fact that it’s silent in its working means it does not disturb staff when cutting the grass.”

The little and often cutting principle of Husqvarna Automower® means the mower feeds micro-clippings back into the soil as natural fertiliser and its random mowing pattern improves lawn quality. The extremely low noise levels also ensures that the machine can work away without disturbing people.

UK Manager – Husqvarna Professional, Kevin Ashmore, commented: “Sodexo’s close relationship with Husqvarna was key in them being one of the first in the UK to trial Husqvarna Automower® in public spaces. The result was that GSK Brentwood recommended the Husqvarna Automower® to many of its main Global sites.”

Husqvarna has an impressive list of commercial installations across the UK, ranging from municipalities (Edinburgh, London & Glasgow), botanic gardens, multi-national headquarters, stately homes, sports facilities, universities & schools and zoos & animal parks.

To learn more about its technology and for more information on the Husqvarna Automower® range visit: http://www.husqvarna.com/uk/products/robotic-lawn-mowers/

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Footballer Scuffles With Groundsman

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Footballer Scuffles With Groundsman: Richard Keogh was allegedly involved in a post-game altercation with a Nottingham Forest groundsman, according to reports.

Sky Sports report that the Republic of Ireland and Derby County defender was left with “noticeable scratch marks” on his neck following a “scuffle” with the Forest groundsman. It is unclear if the groundsman suffered an injury during the alleged incident.

Footballer Scuffles With Groundsman

Derby lost 3-0 to their midlands rivals in a League Cup tie on Tuesday night. After the game at the City Ground, Keogh – who was an unused substitute for the match – and his teammates were doing a warm-down on the pitch as Forest staff were clearing the surface. Keogh was reportedly involved in an argument with the groundsman. The two men were then separated by their colleagues.

The clubs have yet to release a statement on the alleged incident, but Sky Sports report that they are discussing potential disciplinary action.

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