In a Turf Matters exclusive, Leicester City FC grounds manager John Ledwidge, speaks openly about his iconic pitch designs, raising the profile of the industry and hits back against the criticism.

In one of the greatest sporting stories of all time, Leicester City were crowned champions of the 2015/16 Premier League title. However it was not just the players that received all the plaudits – the level of groundsmanship put into the pitch at the King Power Stadium certainly matched the efforts of the team itself. In fact, John Ledwidge and his team’s pitch designs and artistry week on week, amazed both fans and media across the country and beyond.
Social Media became a frenzy with delighted spectators praising the intricate designs – with some calling for John to receive a knighthood; one Twitter user posted a Tweet which read, “Forget Vardy, Mahrez and Kante – the head groundsman at Leicester is the real hero of their season”; another claimed that the groundsmen were a “group of artists and the pitch had been their canvas all season.”; while one disgruntled Manchester United fan believed that it was “Sad how the Leicester City ground staff have more creativity than the entire United team.”

“It was a fairytale story for all concerned and we were part of that,” says John. “For me I felt that it presented an ideal marketing opportunity. We’re on the biggest stage in the world in the Premier League, we’re at the top of the league, and we’re making this fairytale story so why shouldn’t groundsmanship be part of that? We got a mention in the New York Times recently, and the fact that groundsmanship is being recognised within a published article about the club and its successful season – is great in my opinion.”

It’s hard to disagree with – without groundsmen the players wouldn’t have their stage to perform on in front of millions of adoring fans. It is also worth considering the amount of work that goes into these pitches to ensure that multi-million pound players can complete a 90 minute game on a safe surface. Holidays and time off is somewhat of rarity in the groundsmanship industry. More than often, groundsmen are the first to enter the premises in the morning dusk and the last to leave as daylight is fading. Then there is Christmas to consider – while most of us are wrapped up warmly in dressing gowns and slippers opening presents with our loved ones, the majority of groundsmen will be out in the frost preparing pitches for the notorious Boxing Day fixtures.

Therefore, it seems only right that groundsmanship is commended and recognised as part of the beautiful game. However, for all the positive comments about Leicester City’s pitch designs, there has also been crumbs of negativity – mainly from fellow groundsmen. Their main gripe was in suggesting that John has too much time on his hands and that perhaps the grounds team are over staffed. Others suggested that it might put un-necessary pressure on groundsmen to produce the same kind of pitch designs and there were some who even claimed that it could cause a hindrance to referees and linesmen.

“The pitch designs have had more negativity within our own industry which I found really surprising,” says John. “I believe that the pitch has been in good condition and it consistently was throughout last season when we were doing the designs. My lads are a creative bunch and if the main core of the pitch is in good shape then I have no objections at all to patterns. It’s got people talking about the industry and that was always the goal.”

“The goal isn’t about me and it isn’t about the football club – it’s about putting groundsmanship on more of a platform and you only have to look at the media coverage that we received to see that it did its job. What I didn’t want it to be was a “look at me” exercise, I wanted it to showcase what a groundsman is capable of. I saw the opportunity for us to market ourselves and market groundsmanship on the back of the team’s success, and surely that’s just forward thinking.”

“People are quick to moan about salaries and this and that but if we don’t have a presence in the media and have people talking about us – then things will never change.”

According to The Guardian, the average salary for a Groundsman is £17,061 per year, which some would suggest is incredibly low for the amount of work that goes into groundsmanship. Mark Perrin, former head groundsman of Crystal Palace once said, “If I had £1 for every time someone asked me if I just watch the games and cut the grass, I’d be worth a fortune.”

Of course, ensuring that the pitch is playable remains the main task, including renovations each summer which is not helped by the club holding hospitality events on it as well as pre-season friendlies. Then there are also plenty of other integral jobs which include keeping the grass the correct length, watering and rolling it, and ensuring it doesn’t freeze or dry out. The job is as much about turf nutrition as it is anything else. Groundsmen need to have the ability to know when and what fertiliser to use, aeration, microbial activity and grass seeds – to name but a few. Unfortunately Mark Perrin’s comment hits the nail on the head and perhaps more work is needed to show that being a groundsman is as much about being a scientist as he is a ‘grass-cutter.’

“We need to push ourselves more,” argues John. “Although patterns aren’t necessarily pushing ourselves more, because people have been doing it way before me and people will long continue to do it after I’ve finished my career, but the fact of the matter is that we have to think of ways to make people talk about what we do in a positive way.”

“Behind all the patterns, and what people may consider as showmanship, is a lot of hard work – a lot of pumping the message to a lot of people about groundsmanship and the patterns have opened the door for me to do that and to champion groundsmanship. In turn it has gained more respect, gained more professionalism and over time, hopefully it will put us on a platform where people are willing to pay us more money.”

“If all these little things help the cause then we will continue to go and put patterns on the pitch. Sometimes if we’ve had a lot of games then we might not have the time to do it, but if we can then why not?”

“I think some people think that I’ve made it harder work for them, but I always think it is how you look at situations. Some people will say ‘“we’re at a local authority or a school and we want a pitch like Leicester’s.”’ For me, that isn’t a bad thing because then I’d go and say that “to get a pitch like Leicester’s you need to give me some more money,” and therefore can you invest in some money for your department and if that extra money gets you drainage work or some feed then it’s had a positive effect.”

“The bottom line is, we put a pattern on the pitch and people think it looks good which helps when you ask for more budget. If that’s what it takes to get the money then so be it. It’s worked here because year on year, we’ve had substantial investment. Since I’ve come in we’ve spent over £3m on constructing pitches at the training ground, we’ve spent over half a million on machinery and we’ve restructured the whole department, we’ve put a new organisational structure in and everyone’s had a pay rise. So is it working? You ask yourself the question.

“I’m not saying it’s all because of patterns – what I’m saying is that all these things contribute to us being held in a higher regard. I don’t do it for me, I do it for the department and then in turn, do it for the industry.”

“Groundsmanship in this country is held in very high regard all over the world, regardless of pitch patterns, but I think it’s been escalated by what we did last year and the media coverage we received. If the team hadn’t have won the league, maybe we wouldn’t have had as much coverage but even still I think there’d have been an escalation of interest.”

“I think the problem is, that a lot of groundsmen don’t have that attribute of seeing an opportunity and seizing it and in turn raising the profile of the industry. When you’re portraying yourself in public you need to put the best foot forward so that you create an image and a reputation for yourself and the industry that’s going to make us better.”

Some will agree, some may not, but one thing is certain – John is extremely passionate about the industry he works in. From facilitating educational days for school children to working alongside the Young IOG (Institute of Groundsmanship) board of directors in encouraging young people into the industry – John is a proud and pro-active groundsman.

It is inevitable that some will point to showmanship. If ever there was a case of a celebrity groundsman then John fits the bill – aside from a large social media following, the public are starting to point and recognise John as he walks the high streets of Leicester. Although autographs and ‘selfies’ are not, as of yet, part and parcel of his role, how much of this new found fame plays a part in John’s pitch patterns?

“Of course there is always an element of wanting to put myself and my team on the map – I’m ambitious and so are the guys I work with,” says John. “Ultimately I am doing it for the greater good: it’s not about me, it’s about all of us.”

“I think the more that groundsmanship evolves, the more we need to drag ourselves out the doldrums of years gone by and push ourselves into the 21st century. We need to realise that we’ve got to capitalise on opportunities that are put in front of us, and not sit there moaning about what everyone else is doing around us.”

Following a spate of adverse weather conditions, Royal Troon is gearing up to host the world’s greatest golfing tournament…

Wouldn’t we all love to have a superpower? What would be yours? Time travel? Invisibility? Superhuman strength? Ability to fly? For me, it would be the ability to get inside the head of all referees in charge of Scotland matches – in all sports – and ensure even handed fairness.

Now I have no trouble in working out what superpower golf greenkeepers would wish for. One hundred percent it would be the ability to control the weather.

I also have no doubt that the first volunteer to be the controller of the weather gods would be Billy McLachlan, Course Manager at Royal Troon which hosts The Open in mid-July, because he has seen weather on his little patch of west of Scotland coast which he has never experienced during his 35 years at Troon.

Let Billy explain just why those weather controlling powers would have been such a valuable part of his tool kit over the last nine months or so.

“The rain started in November and just kept falling. We had flooding on about a dozen areas around the course, as a result of the water table being so high and it just wouldn’t go away,” explained Billy, for whom the 2016 Open will be the third time he has been in charge of preparing a course for the greatest golf championship in the world.

But while King Canute had suffered from similar well documented issues in the past, the Troon team knew that they had to make every effort with preparation time for July’s Open being reduced all the time.

“We had to be seen to be doing something so that we couldn’t be accused of just sitting back, but every course in the area was suffering just the same – it was nature at work – and we just hoped there would be a turnaround in the weather.”

When it got to February with no improvement Billy and his team decided that drastic times required drastic measures and they started pumping.

“I’m not exaggerating. We must have pumped millions of gallons off the course, sending it onto the beach about 200 yards out, but we weren’t making any headway. The guys really were getting frustrated. They would pump out an area and make a bit of a difference and then go back the next day and it was almost as bad as before,” said Billy.

“I’d never seen anything like it in all my time here at Troon. My other two Opens enjoyed good weather in the run up and it was a straight forward case of not doing anything silly and we enjoyed excellent Opens. This was different.”

One thing he has learned over the last 20 years was above all to keep up a calm exterior at all times.

“I was telling people not to worry, we’ll be fine, but deep down I was concerned. It was very unusual, puddles were sitting for weeks, if not months, and in all honesty we just didn’t know what was going to happen. I remember a weekend at the beginning of April at a time when I thought we were finally getting on top of it, when we had some really heavy rain on a Friday night.

“I went out to look at the 11^th fairway, where we had lost quite a bit of grass. We’d had to sit on our hands because it wasn’t ready to re-seed, but the boys had finally got in and done a really good job.

“I remember creeping round the corner, scared to look in case the rain had caused us more problems, thinking please don’t be puddled. But there it was – a huge puddle. I won’t tell you what I muttered under my breath, but I was thinking, ‘Here it is back to haunt us again’,” revealed Billy.

Fortunately a dry spell followed and the team were able to get their preparations back on schedule and the contractors, who build what can now rightly be described as a massive temporary city, were able to get on site.

“It wasn’t ideal as it was still soft and we had to put tracking down to enable them to build up the stands around the 18th.”

In the 12 years since Billy and his team last prepared for an Open much has changed. The tents – temporary buildings would be a better name for them – are much bigger. Everything is much bigger while the R&A has also changed. Even at the top, and Martin Slumbers, who took over the reins from Peter Dawson as Chief Executive, will be in charge for his first Championship.

“He has been here on a number of occasions and has gone on the official course walks to see how preparations are progressing.”

Billy has also seen a change in the management structure within the R&A when it comes to running The Open.

“Since the 2004 Open I have found that the R&A now have individuals dealing with individual areas of responsibility. Last time I dealt with one person on a number of different areas.”

Since his first Open in charge – Justin Leonard’s win in 1997 – Billy has also evolved as a Course Manager.

“When we started taking scientific readings around the course to identify bounce levels, hydraulic conductivity etc, I’m not sure if I liked the idea. I felt that I was putting my neck on the line. Now I test for everything, even if it is just to reassure myself that my instincts are correct. It’s a little like when mobile phones came out. I didn’t like them as they often meant dropping what I was doing at the time whenever the phone goes off. Now, if I leave my mobile in the house I panic.”

Other changes to course maintenance have been helped by the improvement in machinery over the last 20 years which has enabled more procedures to be carried out quicker and more efficiently.

“We do a lot more sanding now than before. Richard Windows, of the STRI, is a massive help to me and he suggested that we put much more sand on the fairways and that has raised the quality to the extent that they are now very good links fairways. It has a made a real difference.”

Another change that he has introduced has seen the winter months utilised for top dressing.

“I used to top dress in the summer or the spring but now I do 90% of our top dressing from October to March – greens, fairways, tees, everything.”

Speaking six weeks before the first tee shot is hit in the Open, Billy was deep in preparation mode and keen to ensure every base was covered.

“I’m living and breathing it every minute of every day. I wake up thinking of things I need to get done and those which I should have done the previous day. There is apprehension. I know there are many greenkeepers out there who would love to do The Open but it does take over your life. So I will be relieved when we get to the end of the week – although the Monday after it finishes is as hectic as the rest of the days.”

He does see himself very much part of a team and knows that every cog in the wheel is as important as the next.

“Richard (Windows) has been absolutely brilliant. He is a huge help, while the guys – there’s a team of 17 including himself and seasonal workers for the 45 holes at Royal Troon – have done a fantastic job. They really have been putting every last bit of effort into their work for months now.”

So it is fair to suggest that Billy would make sure he was at the front of the queue when those superhero powers were being allocated and that, given his first choice, life might be that much less stressful for the next Royal Troon Open Championship.

Ordering up an extended spell of sunny warm weather with occasional overnight rain from his mobile phone would be just the job.