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John Deere fleet at St George’s Park

June 13, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Louise Parratt

John Deere fleet at St George’s Park: For the grounds team at St George’s Park, the home of England football, maintaining a world-class venue is a 365-days-a-year, 24-hours-a-day passion. Located six miles from Burton in Staffordshire, the park is home to 14 pitches and sprawls across 330 acres with 150 acres actively maintained by a […]

Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare

June 13, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare: Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is placing its trust in STAR EV and Reesink e-Vehicles when it comes to its football players’ welfare at its Training Centre in North London with three all-electric ambulance vehicles. It is absolutely vital for all the footballers’ welfare that strict medical requirements are […]

John Deere fleet at St George’s Park

June 13, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Louise Parratt

Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare

June 13, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

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John Deere fleet at St George’s Park

June 13, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Louise Parratt

John Deere fleet at St George’s Park: For the grounds team at St George’s Park, the home of England football, maintaining a world-class venue is a 365-days-a-year, 24-hours-a-day passion.

Located six miles from Burton in Staffordshire, the park is home to 14 pitches and sprawls across 330 acres with 150 acres actively maintained by a 15-strong team.

John Deere fleet at St George’s Park

Andy Gray, Head of Grounds and Estates, is in charge while 10 take care of the pitches and four work on the wider estate.

“The sheer size of the estate is the biggest challenge,” says Andy, who joined The FA from Southampton FC.

A key part of his job is to foresee issues that will crop up in the future and putting a strategic plan in place to meet these potential challenges.

“I’m also responsible for making sure my team has all the tools they require to do their job effectively,” he adds.

To help them in their quest to continue delivering world-class excellence, the centre has invested in a brand new fleet of John Deere mowers, gators and tractors to maintain the England teams’ pitches and the wider estate.

The pitches

“It’s a high-pressure environment because you’re constantly trying to meet everyone’s expectations and when you have a small team on both sides it is hard,” says Dan Oliver, Assistant Head of Grounds.

Adaptability and responding to the UK’s unpredictable weather patterns is key. “The weather is the biggest thing,” adds Dan. “There are peaks and troughs, depending on how wet or warm it has been.”

With major Premier League and European teams plus sides from further afield making the journey to train at St George’s, Dan and the team feel the pressure to deliver a world-class experience.

“We constantly compare ourselves to other venues. A lot of the players will be coming from excellent facilities, so we do our best to mirror what they’re used to, and hopefully deliver more. This should be a step up.”

The estate

Management of the wider estate covers a range of tasks from woodland management to protecting and enhancing biodiversity.

Matt’s estates team is made up of him and three other people. This equates to an approximate ratio of one person per 25 acres to actively maintain daily.

The team’s existing equipment lease deal expired in January 2020, leading to a re-evaluation of what was required.

“That fleet was the same one that was set up in 2011,” Matt says.

“The ride-on mowing equipment we had didn’t suit our estate’s undulating terrain. The nature of the site means that you’re never sure what you’re going to come across and because of the soil makeup the ground is often wet.”

After an extensive demonstration process of the machines available to them, the team decided to go with John Deere because of the extra support the brand can provide.

“One thing that really impressed me from the start was the support John Deere gave us during the transition when the old fleet was going out and the new kit was still being built,” Matt says. “As it was transferred in we still had access to whatever equipment we needed.

“For us, one of the most important things was what would happen if something broke down. Our arrangement with John Deere means we can get answers quickly and get equipment back up and running.”

The team’s new John Deere fleet comprises three compact tractors in the form of a 2036R and two 4066R models, two TE and three HPX Gators, three 2750 E-Cut triplex mowers, two X950R riding mowers, one 7400A TerrainCut and a 8000A mower, one Progator and a HD200 sprayer.

All the equipment was supplied by John Deere dealer Farol through Area Sales Managers Jacob Shellis and Tom Spencer. With their support, full training was given to the workforce on how to set up the machines to operate with maximum accuracy and performance.

The fleet is fully connected and all machines are remotely monitored by Farol under Deere’s PowerGard protection plan. A maintenance agreement means work is carried out at scheduled times according to the service manual. This ensures performance is maximised and reduces the risk of breakdowns. The deal is in place for five years.

Nathan Page, one of the operators at St George’s, said: “A big difference is the 2036R and 4066R tractors. They are all-weather, comfortable and capable of pulling everything we need them to.”

His colleague Michael Bristow added: “The main thing for me was the training when the new kit arrived. We have been shown the right way to operate it all. The ride quality is also really good, which is important when you’re working on these machines all day.”

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Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare

June 13, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare: Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is placing its trust in STAR EV and Reesink e-Vehicles when it comes to its football players’ welfare at its Training Centre in North London with three all-electric ambulance vehicles.

It is absolutely vital for all the footballers’ welfare that strict medical requirements are in place at all times and as well as having a fully trained medical team, Tottenham now has two new ambulance vehicles for the men’s team and one for the women’s. These vehicles are kept on site, fully equipped and ready to support the medical team at a moment’s notice.

Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare

For the club that holds the title of the Premier League’s greenest club, it was a given that the vehicles would be battery-powered, but the decision of which brand to put his trust in when it comes to supporting the medical teams with the safety of the players came down to Darren Baldwin, Head of Playing Surfaces and Estates at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, who explains: “What makes these ambulance vehicles stand out are their logical design and innovative features that combine to make the job of the medical team easier.

“The gurney in particular is applauded for how it slides on and off and locks in securely with just two clicks of the handle, while the auto lift and load feature mean it stands up securely. The medical boxes and good storage capacity make sure the team has everything they need logically stored and conveniently to hand so they can be efficient under pressure.”

It’s not just the ease of use the medical team has commented on though, Darren reports positive feedback on the quality of the product too. He continues: “We’ve all been blown away by the quality of these vehicles, they are far in advance of the competition. The little things have been accounted for, like the windshields, for example, they aren’t plastic, and they have windscreen wipers. That’s a fantastic feature to come as standard.”

The grounds of Tottenham Hotspur are extensive – 18 acres – and these machines are required for the academy, training grounds and pitches so how have they performed on such a large site? Darren says: “There is a lot of trust in the batteries! Obviously, it’s a big consideration choosing electric for such vital vehicles – we need to be able to rely on them 100 percent of the time. But charging is easy and there are clear controls to show what charge is left.”

Dave French, sales manager of Reesink e-Vehicles, the UK distributor of STAR EV, says: “There’s no reason to doubt battery power these days, especially with STAR EV, it brings to the UK battery power built to last. There’s on-board charging, meaning no expensive infrastructure. And with the Lithium option, you don’t need to worry power drifting away either, you get a constant amount delivered throughout the discharge. Both the AK and Capella ambulance vehicles are nimble and compact vehicles, designed from the ground up to manage the carriage of a casualty, whilst offering excellent support from other passengers.”

Dave concludes: “It’s a real honour to not only have equipped Tottenham Hotspur with such a key equipment purchase to keep its players safe, but that the club, which is voted as one of the greenest in the premiership chose STAR EV to continue on its journey to carbon neutrality.”

To find out more about STAR EV call 01480 226800 or go online at reesink-evehicles.co.uk

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

John Deere fleet at St George’s Park

Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare

John Deere fleet at St George’s Park

Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

John Deere fleet at St George’s Park

John Deere fleet at St George’s Park: For the grounds team at St George’s Park, the home of England football, maintaining a world-class venue is a 365-days-a-year, 24-hours-a-day passion.

Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare

Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare: Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is placing its trust in STAR EV and Reesink e-Vehicles when it comes to its football players’ welfare at its Training Centre in North London with three all-electric ambulance vehicles.

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