Football Club Bemoans Vandalism

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Football Club Bemoans Vandalism: Damage to football pitches at Awamoa Park in Oamaru is something the young players who use the fields should not have to contend with, Awamoa Football Club president Twyla Kingan says.

Speaking to the Otago Daily Times yesterday she confirmed at least one vehicle entered the park on Friday night, at the intersection of Awamoa Rd and State Highway 1, and did several burnouts on and around one of the park’s several playing surfaces.

The damage to the home of the Awamoa Football Club’s junior players, which resulted in large chunks of grass and earth being gouged out of the ground, was met with dismay by Mrs Kingan who said it was not the first time the park had been targeted by vandals.

”It’s disappointing … you look around on Saturday morning at the park and you see a good hundred kids out there enjoying playing with their friends. It’s unfortunate they get hampered by the damage.

”The most damage was just off the pitch and some in the middle of the pitch … you don’t want to see kids tripping up.”

While consideration was given to moving some games to the Oamaru Showgrounds, where Meadowbank United is based, all fixtures went ahead as planned after minor groundkeeping work.

Earlier this week, the club discussed, with the Waitaki District Council, the possibility of installing wooden bollards and chains to keep vehicles out of the park, which Mrs Kingan hoped would deter vandals.

Sergeant Tony Woodbridge, of Oamaru, said cases of parks and reserves being intentionally damaged by vehicles happened ”once or twice a year” and police were investigating Friday night’s incident.

Police were reviewing CCTV footage and the offenders would be prosecuted if located, he said.

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Greenock’s £8k Pitch Revamp

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Greenock’s £8k Pitch Revamp: Life’s a beach for Morton’s groundsman after 60 tonnes of sand was spread onto the Cappielow pitch as part of an £8,000 renovation project.

The hallowed turf is undergoing an annual overhaul to ensure the playing surface is in pristine condition come the start of the new season.

Award-winning groundsman Mark Farrell, 42, is leading the two-week, intensive restoration work.

A total of 52 matches were played on the pitch last term by the Ton’s first team, development squad and Celtic’s Under-20s.

Despite still looking like a carpet come the end of another long season, Mark says it is vital to keep on top of the pitch, which is regarded as one of the best in the country.

He told the Tele: “The pitch had a lot of games and a lot of usage.

“It was getting tired and needed a rest.

“We’ve put some sand deep down to improve drainage a bit more, smoothed off the surface and put some fresh seed in.

“The surface was looking a bit tired so the key now is to make sure it’s looking healthy again.”

Around 150kg of grass seed has also been planted and Mark has been working once again with specialist contractors Campey Turf Care.

Mark said: “It’s coming along nicely and the weather has been great.

“This time last year it was a case of trying to get water off the pitch because it was so wet and this year I’m trying to get water on it.

“It will be fifteen years in September since I started here so I know the pitch inside out now.

“The club have never refused me whenever I’ve asked for anything and that’s a good thing.

“The club wants a good pitch that’s ready for matchday and that’s what I always work towards.”

The Cappielow surface is regularly praised by fans, players, managers and club officials from across the footballing world.

Morton chief executive Warren Hawke paid tribute to the hard-working grounds manager.

He said: “The pitch is one of our biggest assets and that’s why we continue to invest in it.

“We’re lucky to have an excellent person in charge of the playing surface in Mark.”

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Work Underway At Ewood Park

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Work Underway At Ewood Park: Work is underway on the pitch at Ewood Park as Rovers prepare for life back in the Championship.

Head groundsman Trevor Wilkin admits preparations for the 2018/19 campaign are well underway and will step up over the next few weeks.

The Ewood groundstaff were highly commended by the EFL for the condition of the pitch during the course of the League One season.

And Wilkins, who has worked for the club for over 35 years, explained the process which will take place over the summer.

He said: “All that’s happening is what we do every season, which is stripping the old turf off, adding some fresh root zone, freshening everything up and reseeding.

“People get it in their head that it’s a brand new pitch, but it’s not. It’s more of a make do and mend job.

“Over the next few days, the old turf will be stripped off, then we’ll get the new root zone on, mix it all together and by the end of the week it should all be levelled and seeded.

“It will then be put to bed for two weeks, then hopefully it should be totally green and ready for me to start cutting again.

“Hopefully we get a decent summer and then we’ll be ready to go from mid to late July.”

Wilkin admits there has been investment from the owners on the pitches at the club’s Senior and Academy training centres at Brockhall with that work also underway.

And he hopes that will bear fruit for the players and coaching staff during the course of the 2018/19 season.

He told the club website: “There’s lots of work going on down at Brockhall as well.

“The owners have spent money on every single pitch this summer, which is great – a good investment.

“Every single pitch at the Senior Training Centre and the Academy is having some work done on it, and that’s the bread and butter for the players.

“We’ll be doing the best we can to produce training pitches as good as Ewood for Tony (Mowbray) and his staff.”

The club were two League One clubs to be highly commended by the EFL for the condition of the pitch, with the overall honours going to Rotherham United.

The rankings are based on marks from referees and away managers, as well as detailed pitch inspections and a review of management operations.

And Wilkin added: “This is a great achievement for everyone involved after what has been a difficult season fixture and weather-wise.

“We had a tough period from late January through to the middle of February, but the winter we had, as everyone knows, was horrendous, plus this season what really hit us was the amount of fixtures we’ve had.

“I think the last league game of the season against Oxford was our 40th fixture here at Ewood, which is an unbelievable number for this stadium, so overall we’re very pleased.”

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Contractor Fined After Wall Collapse

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Contractor Fined After Wall Collapse: A landscape contractor has been fined £20,000 plus costs after a worker was seriously injured injured when a retaining wall collapsed and trapped him underneath.

Contractor Fined After Wall Collapse

Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court heard that while he was excavating a trench in front of an existing blockwork wall, a section of the wall collapsed and fell on him trapping him underneath. He sustained a complex fracture to his pelvis which required surgery and he has not been able to return to work since the incident.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company failed to properly plan and manage the installation of the timber structure, and had not put sufficient control measures in place to prevent the collapse of the existing blockwork wall.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 19 (1) of The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1048.86 and a victim surcharge of £220.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Cain Mitchell said: “This case highlights the dangers of undermining a free-standing wall by excavating alongside the structure without appropriate planning and the necessary precautions in place.

“If the company had implemented reasonably practicable measures that minimised the risk to persons working next to such structures this incident could easily have been avoided.”

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Wolves Install New Pitches

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Wolves Install New Pitches: Two brand new state-of-the-art football pitches are being laid at Wolverhampton Wanderers’ training ground to help Nuno Espirito Santo improve his players’ passing game.

The head coach wants his side to train on the same surface that was laid at Molineux last year as he continues to stamp his tactical approach on the club ahead of their return to the Premier League.

And head groundsman Wayne Lumbard revealed the project should be completed by July, in time for when the players return from their summer break.

Asked if the project would help the players, Lumbard said: “Yes, exactly the surface for the type of players that we have got that play passing football and like a good surface, a good level surface.

“That obviously helps with their style of football and helps us rather than the away team.

“Nuno obviously wants the best playing surface that we can possibly get.

“The only way forward with that was to do what we did at Molineux because that has been so good, and what they have got at Molineux, they want down the training ground. So what they train on, they play on. So the only way was to invest in the new pitches, which will hopefully be as good as Molineux.”

The project was kick-started after talks were held with the club’s senior management and spearheaded by Nuno.

The plans were first mooted last year but work only begun several months ago so the pitches could be ready in time for summer.

Lumbard said: “We have been talking about it for the last six, seven months. Obviously it is not something you can decide overnight. There is a lot of planning that goes ahead.

“We started about four or five weeks ago purely so we could have pitch one back for when they come back in July.

“Everything was geared up really to have an early start so we could have one pitch back for them to train on as soon as they came back after the close season.”

The new training pitches will be state-of-the-art Desso GrassMaster surfaces.

They are the same ones which were laid at Molineux last summer as part of a six-figure investment.

Lumbard added: “They will be maintained and constructed exactly the same as Molineux.”

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