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Colney Chat | Scott Tingley

March 1, 2017/in Press Release/by Admin

The hornets’ head groundsman explains what it has taken to get Watford’s Vicarage Road pitch to its exemplary 16/17 standard. Watford raided the Emirates last month to pocket three season-turning points against Arsenal. Just over a year ago, they made a less heralded but equally important swoop on the North London club to pinch a […]

Record breaking Cricket Groundsman’s Seminar

March 1, 2017/in Press Release/by Admin

The recent Dennis and SISIS Cricket Groundsman’s Seminar recorded its highest ever attendance with an impressive 260 delegates making their way to Gloucestershire County Cricket Club all looking to refresh and enhance their education on a variety of topics. The seminar, which was supported by Gloucester Cricket Board, Boughton Loam, CricketWorld.com, Limagrain UK, Lister Wilder, […]

Colney Chat | Scott Tingley

March 1, 2017/in Press Release/by Admin

Record breaking Cricket Groundsman’s Seminar

March 1, 2017/in Press Release/by Admin

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Colney Chat | Scott Tingley

March 1, 2017/in Press Release/by Admin

The hornets’ head groundsman explains what it has taken to get Watford’s Vicarage Road pitch to its exemplary 16/17 standard.

Watford raided the Emirates last month to pocket three season-turning points against Arsenal. Just over a year ago, they made a less heralded but equally important swoop on the North London club to pinch a senior groundsman in a bid to rescue their troubled pitch. The result has been just as transformative.

Stung by criticism from Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino about the state of the playing surface in successive home games last season, chief executive Scott Duxbury took swift and decisive action.

He consulted Real Madrid head groundsman Paul Burgess and asked him to recommend someone who could rescue the club’s patchy playing surface at Vicarage Road and become the club’s head groundsman. The name Burgess gave was Scott Tingley, who, at 29, already has six years at Chelsea and seven at Arsenal under his belt.

“A lot of people said, ‘Why have you gone from Arsenal to Watford?’ But it was a progression in my career,” said Tingley.

“I was a senior groundsman at Arsenal. I had a certain amount of say but nothing major. Here, every decision is mine, from the grass seed, to the fertiliser, to the way we cut the pitch in terms of pattern, the height we cut it, the amount we water it. It’s nice to have the responsibility but it’s a challenge at the same time. It’s non-stop, seven days a week and sometimes even in my sleep. It’s full on.”

Tingley is a glass-half-empty type person. Watford’s manicured pitch now looks like a bowling green and looked a picture under the lights against West Ham on Saturday, but Tingley says “there is always room for improvement.”
He’s a perfectionist, you see. It’s all a far cry from the Vicarage Road pitch he inherited from the Spanish contractors in January last year.

“I came in and the pitch had just been re-turfed,” he said. “The job was to get that pitch through to the end of the season. The fact we managed to present it quite well was a bonus. We just had to try and provide a consistent surface week-in, week-out. It was never going to look that pretty but we got there, just about. It didn’t look a patch on what we have produced this season.”

Not half. Tingley was firefighting until the end of last season. “My role really began in the summer,” he said. “I was basically looking after someone else’s pitch until May.”

As soon as the final ball of last season had been kicked, against Sunderland, the pitch was ripped up and relayed under his supervision. The club went back to the Desso surface that was installed a few years ago. The Desso surface, which is used at Tingley’s former club Arsenal, was first installed at Vicarage Road in 2012 and sees the grass reinforced by millions of Desso artificial fibres.

“Relaying the pitch had to be done,” said Tingley. “That was one thing I insisted on when I met with the club. They knew it had to come up. We had a reinforcement system on that pitch that was turfed over so the reinforcement system was inactive. We had to remove the turf and go back to the reinforcement system.”

Without getting all Alan Titchmarsh on you, Tingley and his team went back to basics. Forty millimetres of turf was removed; the pitch was stripped back to the previous Desso surface and then reseeded. One hundred and forty tonnes of sand was brought in.

“It’s about producing a surface that was going to last all season,” said Tingley. “You get the reward for the work you do in the summer over Christmas and New Year. If we hadn’t done what we did in the summer then the pitch wouldn’t have made it through the four games over Christmas and New Year.”

The manicured pitch came through with flying colours during the unforgiving festive period, the acid test of any football pitch. Perhaps the best marker of how good your pitch is is when nobody is talking about it. Much like a good referee.

“There was no guarantee I could make it better than it was but I knew through hard work and doing the right things on a regular basis, we’d have a chance,” says Tingley.

“The pitch failed before as the right things weren’t being done on a day-to-day basis. It can be quite scientific but it’s not rocket science.”

It’s taken a fair amount of spade work from Tingley’s nine-strong staff and a certain amount of cash to fulfil his vision.

“The club have invested massively in my department,” he said. “Clubs want a good pitch but some are not willing to pay for it. Here they do.”

For starters, there is the gas bill for the undersoil heating and the electric bill for the six lighting rigs, which provide artificial light to help stimulate growth, essential in the absence of regular sunshine during the grey winter months. They are what create the hazy orange glow you’ll occasionally see over the ground at night, especially when it’s foggy.

“Such is the demand for quality pitches in the Premier League that we use the pitch lights to ensure quality of surface, particularly as we cannot control the weather. The glow is due to the open nature of the stadium,” said Tingley.

The upshot of the investment has been a happy bunch of players.
“The feedback has been good,” says Tingley. “Amrabat is very complimentary, although he always asks me to cut it shorter every week. Troy said he wants to come out and find the same thing every week. They want to know what boots they are going to wear before they even walk on it .

“They want to know it’s not going to be drastically different from the week before. It’s about creating a surface the ball rolls truly on, rolls to the right speed and that the players have faith they can turn and go in a different direction and that the pitch isn’t going to move underneath them.”

Tingley knows what he’s talking about as he comes from good stock: his father was head groundsman at Wembley for 10 years.

“He comes down [to Vicarage Road] now and then to see how I’m getting on. It’s nice to have his support and be able to pick his brains.”

Tingley is now able to head to the annual groundsmen meeting at Premier League headquarters next month more confident than he was last year. Watford must be in with a shout of being one of the five highly-commended pitches. Then there is the Institute of Groundsmanship awards in September.

“People have said it’s one of the best pitches in the Premier League this year,” says Tingley.

“I’d like to believe that, but you’ve got some very experienced groundsmen up and down the country producing good pitches for what is the best league in the world. But if the board here think we’ve got the best pitch in the Premier League, that’s good enough for me. That’s who I’m here to do it for. It’s just nice to go home and see it looking good on Match of the Day.”

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Record breaking Cricket Groundsman’s Seminar

March 1, 2017/in Press Release/by Admin

The seminar, which was supported by Gloucester Cricket Board, Boughton Loam, CricketWorld.com, Limagrain UK, Lister Wilder, Stuart Canvas Products and Poweroll, brought together a wide range of cricket groundsmen from grass roots, local and county clubs, and international test venues. It was also reported that the event recorded the largest ever amount of attendees from groundsmen working within schools and colleges.

All sharing the same goal of ultimately enhancing their education and improving their cricket facilities, the seminar was a fantastic opportunity to meet like-minded individuals, learn best practices and share and gain knowledge from some of the top names in cricket groundsmanship.

Following an introduction by Dennis and SISIS area sales manager Robert Jack and Will Brown CEO of Gloucestershire CCC; Richard Dawson, a cricket coach at Gloucestershire CCC, drew upon his first-hand experience to deliver a presentation entitled ‘What does a bowler look for in a pitch?’ Bob Hampshire, from the Gloucestershire Association of Cricket Officials then proceeded to offer a slightly different perspective in his presentation – ‘What does an umpire look for in a pitch?’

Delegates made the most of a refreshment break to mull over the morning’s insightful presentations before Chris Wood, ECB pitch consultant, offered a wealth of knowledge through his presentation ‘Spinning Pitches’. Sean Williams, head groundsman at Gloucestershire CCC, then invited all attendees onto the immaculate pitch where he and Chris discussed ‘Pre-Season Practice Pitch Inspections’.

Following a complimentary lunch, which also offered some fantastic networking opportunities, Barry Glynn, a former cricket groundsman, detailed his honest and extremely humorous thoughts concerning the ‘Frustrations of a Cricket Groundsman’.

Martin Ford, ECB fine turf manager, then proceeded to offer some very helpful tips in his ‘Spring Renovation on a Budget’ presentation before the day concluded with a questions & answers session.

It was the perfect way to finish the record breaking seminar and all delegates got the opportunity to ask questions to a number of head groundsmen such as Karl McDermott (Hampshire), Vic Demain (Durham), Sean Williams (Gloucs), and Simon Lee (Somerset).

Commenting on the successful seminar, Chris Wood said, “It’s been a fantastic day, one of the highest attendances I’ve ever encountered, and it was an absolute pleasure to conduct a presentation in front of them. They are all practicing cricket groundsmen around the country and without them we wouldn’t have a game. Today has given them a chance to come to a county and international ground and gain expertise from some of the best in the industry.”

Simon Lee, head groundsmen at Somerset CCC, revealed that being at the top doesn’t necessarily mean that you ever stop learning: “It’s been great to catch up with people that I know and also it has been interesting to hear from the speakers. At the end of the day you’re always trying to gleam information out of people to use at your own ground so it’s been really good to soak up all the information.”

Echoing Simon’s thoughts was Karl McDermott, head groundsman at Hampshire CCC, who said: “We all have the same issues and the same problems, be it from volunteer level up to our level, so just to stand in the same room and chat to the guys and pick each other’s brains has been great. To have 260 groundsmen in one place is fantastic for the industry – this really is the go-to event for cricket seminars.”

Steward Ward, ‎horticultural & sports turf specialist, certainly found the day worthwhile: “I’ve listened to a number of great speakers today and have found it extremely useful. The information has been relevant for lower levels all the way to the top so it’s been a really good day and I’m pleased I came.”

Nigel Pearce, a groundsman at Lechlade Cricket Club, attended the seminar along with his chairman and revealed that it was beneficial for the both of them: “For me it was great to catch up with a number of fellow groundsmen who I already knew and it was good to meet new ones as well. It was also really interesting listening to speakers like Chris Wood and having the opportunity to go out and look at the square here. My chairman also came along with me today and I’m really pleased because he has learnt a lot about what I do and received an insight into the issues I may encounter on a day-to-day basis.”

For further information about future seminars, please email roger.moore@dennisuk.com or visit www.dennisuk.com / www.sisis.com

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Colney Chat | Scott Tingley

Record breaking Cricket Groundsman’s Seminar

Colney Chat | Scott Tingley

Record breaking Cricket Groundsman’s Seminar

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Colney Chat | Scott Tingley

Record breaking Cricket Groundsman’s Seminar

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