Wendron United Receive Grant

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Wendron United Receive Grant: Football and cricket clubs at Wendron United have been awarded a £10,000 grant from the Premier League and FA Facilities Fund to provide new ground maintenance equipment.

With funds also raised by the youth section, money totalling £30,000 has enabled the club to buy a new tractor and grass cutting attachment, as well as other associated pitch maintenance equipment.

Wendron United chairman Peter Thorne, who this year won the Cornwall FA Groundsman of the Year award, said: “This funding together with those made available by the Pennon Environmental Fund (£13,866), local business Membly Hall Hotel and internal club funds, especially from our vibrant youth football section, has allowed the club to significantly enhance our ground maintenance equipment.

“This gives our small band of dedicated volunteers the ability to keep the grass pitches in good order and thereby allow more football to be played throughout the season and on better surfaces, so players can improve their skill levels.”

The Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund aims to improve the experience for regular players as well as attracting new players to the game.

It is delivered by the Football Foundation, the country’s largest sports charity. Founded in 2000, it is the largest sports charity in the UK funded by the Premier League, The FA and Government, via Sport England.

It develops new and refurbished grassroots sports facilities in order to improve the quality and experience of playing sport at the grassroots level.

Since it was launched in 2000, the Foundation has awarded around 15,000 grants worth more than £580m towards improving grassroots sport, which it has used to attract additional partnership funding of over £800m – £1.4bn of investment into the grassroots game.

Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “Congratulations should go to Wendron United FC for working with the Cornwall FA to secure this Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund grant.”

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Sacked Groundsmen ‘Shell-Shocked’

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Sacked Groundsmen ‘Shell-Shocked’: The former KCOM Stadium groundsmen were unfairly dismissed by SMC, but the company does not have to pay the pair any compensation.

An employment tribunal has ruled that two sacked former KCOM Stadium groundsmen should not receive any compensation for losing jobs.


Long-serving pair Mark Harrison and Darrell Cook were sacked by the SuperStadium Management Company (SMC) in June.

They took their case for unfair dismissal to an employment tribunal hearing in October.

Three days before the hearing, the SMC conceded it had acted unfairly in dismissing the two men.

The concession was made on the basis that the company had not properly followed employment law during its internal disciplinary process.

However, during the four-day tribunal, the SMC argued it should not have to pay any compensation because the mens’ actions still justified immediate dismissal.

The company claimed Mr Cook carried out part-time work as a kitman for Hull FC during his normal SMC working hours.

It also alleged Mr Harrison, as his supervisor, allowed it to happen.

At the hearing, Mr Cook said he always carried on his Hull FC duties outside of SMC time.

The two men were able to mount an appeal case thanks to a crowd-funding campaign on social media.

Tribunal judge Rita Rogerson’s decision was to both parties earlier this afternoon.

It is expected to be officially published next week.

Ruling out compensation, her report is thought to conclude that Mr Cook was working for Hull FC during his SMC hours.

Neither the SMC or Mr Harrison or Mr Cook was available for comment.

However, a source close to the men said: “They are a bit shell-shocked.

“They technically won their appeal after the concession of unfair dismissal but are naturally disappointed at not being award compensation for losing their jobs.”

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Tribute To Cricket Groundsman Peter Green

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Tribute To Cricket Groundsman Peter Green: Peter Green was one of Huddersfield cricket’s most popular figures.

The 73-year-old gave a lifetime of dedication to Honley Cricket Club and only last month received the Drakes Huddersfield Cricket League’s highest award, the Fred Stallard Cup.

Presented to an individual who has given long and outstanding service to his club and the game, guests at the league’s annual dinner gave a standing ovation when the award to ‘Mr Honley’ was announced.

The Drakes honour came just weeks after Peter received the Institute of Groundsmanship Special Recognition Award in front of 700 guests at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

He has been groundsman at Honley’s pristine Far End Lane ground for the past 40 years.

Peter, who was associated with Honley CC for over 60 years, will be sadly missed by the whole Huddersfield cricket community.

Born in Gilsland, Northumberland, in 1944 (because his father, Leslie, was stationed in the north east with the army at the time), Peter moved to Honley at the age of three – the Green family have been part of the village for centuries.

His father and uncles all played for the club and Peter, who went to Honley Junior School and Holmfirth Secondary (now High School), grew up loving cricket.

He couldn’t wait for his 12th birthday when he was officially allowed to join to play junior cricket and once through the gates he was never going to play anywhere else and his love for the club never waned.

After leaving school Peter worked as a painter and decorator before joining David Brown’s at Meltham, but he then joined The Post Office and worked as a postman until retiring eight years ago.

He married wife Isabel at St Mary’s Church in Honley in 1970. They had a guard of honour with cricket bats and hockey sticks because Isabel played hockey for Huddersfield Ladies and then Colne Valley Ladies.

They passed on their love of sport to sons Martin and James, both of whom have followed in their father’s footsteps and become stalwarts of the Honley club.

Peter had been encouraged by his father and uncles, who took a keen interest in his pathway through junior cricket in the 1950s to the Honley first team, and Peter did likewise for his sons.

In addition to his playing career, Peter served as groundsman, coach and committeeman and, having enjoyed a 50-year playing career, he was rewarded with the Lady Sykes Candlesticks in 1983 (son Martin received the same accolade in 2015).

Peter scored at least 6,711 senior runs and took 88 outfield catches. A talented wicketkeeper, he also had 154 dismissals behind the stumps and twice won the league wicketkeeping prize, the Cyril Thorpe Cup.

He became club groundsman in 1977 and continued in that role until his retirement, due to ill health, earlier this year.

Honley won the Greenwood Trophy (for most improved ground) on four occasions and Peter won the Tom Walker Trophy for best groundsman a record four times.

He forged a close working relationship with the Yorkshire County ground staff and his talents and dedication allowed Honley to regularly stage the Sykes Cup Final, league representative matches and Yorkshire junior games.

Receiving the award from the Institute of Groundsmanship really was the ultimate accolade for all that work.

While working full-time, playing every weekend and looking after the ground, Peter also found time to become a qualified junior coach, spending many hours at junior practice evenings and school indoor nets, not only helping his own lads to love the game, but countless other young players as well.

Family holidays have, for the last 38 years, included an annual trip to St Ives in Cornwall with good friends Bruce and Christine Jakeman – the last earlier this summer while Peter was still well enough to travel – but the Greens followed cricket all around the world.

They supported England on five Ashes tours to Australia – their favourite place being Sydney – in addition to watching the national side in the West Indies and South Africa, but they went to many other places to watch the game.

Peter’s funeral will be at Huddersfield Crematorium on Wednesday, December 20 (10.30am) and Isabel, Martin and James would like everyone to wear colour in celebration of his life.

That celebration will continue at Honley Cricket Club.

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WACA Jack Gets Cricket Ground Ready For Ashes Test

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‘WACA Jack’ Gets Cricket Ground Ready For Ashes Test: Next weeks’ Ashes test will be the last to be held at Perth’s traditional home of cricket.

John Lewis, who was given his more catchy nickname by WA fast bowling great Dennis Lillee, has been a WACA Ground staple for almost 40 years with his jobs varying from “general fixer-upper”, groundsman and assistant pitch curator to cultivating his beloved roses.

But as the WACA prepares for its final Ashes battle tomorrow week before a move to Perth Stadium, the 71-year-old admits his tenure is also nearing an end. Unlike most Victorians who revere the MCG, his adopted State’s ground is his only love.

“To me it’s home … well, my second home anyway,” Mr Lewis said. “It may as well be because the only time I’m not here is when I’m home sleepin’. To be here for so long, this ground means everything to me, mate, it really does. It’s going to be hard to walk away, mate, I can tell ya.”

Mr Lewis, a former roof carpenter and truck driver who survived a heart attack in 2015, started work at the WACA on June 19, 1978.

“At 8am,” he said proudly.

He laughed as he recalled once heading out to the wicket to remove a broken stump with a hammer and a screwdriver, only to find English Test batsman Derek Randall unsuccessfully trying to loosen it pouring cordial down the stump hole.

Mr Lewis still has his part of the stump at home. But not all of his tasks were a joy. “There were 1287 old garden chairs which were all multiple colours,” he said.

“Every year they had to be shaved back and repainted with all new boards put on. It would take nearly the whole of winter to fix them up.”

And there was only a brief pause when asked what he could buy if he had a dollar for every time he had mowed the WACA lawn. “Probably the Taj Mahal,” Mr Lewis said with his trademark cheeky grin.

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Iprodione Withdrawal Update

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Iprodione Withdrawal Update: An EU meeting, held by the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF), has voted against the inclusion of iprodione. As a result, all products across Europe containing this active ingredient, including Chipco® Green and Interface® from Bayer, will be removed from the market.

Bayer is working to the following timescales for the UK and Ireland, in terms of sell-out and usage periods of iprodione product based registrations:

  • 5 March 2018 – sales of Chipco® Green and Interface® will cease and the three month use-up period will commence
  • 5 June 2018 – this is the last date for storage, disposal and use of any iprodione based products, including Chipco® Green and Interface®

Iprodione Withdrawal Update

The loss of iprodione reduces the available number of fungicide groups for turf managers from six to five. With other chemicals also due for assessment, a further reduction in the total number of products on the market for turf disease control is to be expected.

In light of this, Bayer was pleased to launch a new turf fungicide, Exteris® Stressgard®, at BTME in January 2017.  The new product brings a totally new fungicide group to the market – SDHIs, and without this innovation from Bayer, greenkeepers would only have access to four fungicide groups.

“Exteris® Stressgard® has unique benefits, making it an integral part of many turf disease management programmes for the future.  It’s important for turf managers to appreciate that the continued pressure on contact acting, chemistry will likely mean that they need to adopt a preventative disease control strategy, and Exteris® Stressgard® is ideal for this approach,” says Steve Bishop, Bayer professional product manager.

Steve reminds greenkeepers that Chipco Green® in particular has been a key management tool for the control of turf diseases for over 35 years.

“Greenkeepers should not be concerned with using the product up to its last use date. Numerous studies have been conducted on iprodione and we believe that our products, when used according to the label, are highly effective and do not pose any undue risk to the operator and environment.”

For further information on the withdrawal of iprodione and Bayer products, please contact the Turf Solutions Team on 00800 1214 9451 or email turfsolutions@bayer.com

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