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Avro Promoted On Greenfields Pitch

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Avro Promoted On Greenfields Pitch: After two seasons of playing on their GreenFields 3G pitch, Avro FC have celebrated a second successive promotion which will see them move up from their short-lived stay in the North West Counties First Division to play the 2019-20 season in the North West Counties Premier Division.

Having won the Manchester Premier Division in 2018, then to gain promotion last season (finishing second but gaining promotion with points-per-game), Avro FC are certainly on a roll and definitely a team to look out for. Rob Fuller, Avro FC Chairman attributes their success in part to the installation of the 3G pitch back in Autumn 2017, he commented: “We are about to begin our third season with our GreenFields 3G pitch and we could not be more pleased with it. We are certain that the pitch has played a huge part in our back to back promotions. Last season was our first in semi-professional football, and we received only positive comments from visiting teams regarding the pitch. Several teams pointed out that the GreenFields surface was far superior to any that they had played on previously and they were impressed with the quality of the grass, and the natural bounce and run of the ball during game play. We are proud of our GreenFields pitch and look forward to continuing our successful partnership in 2019/20 as we look forward to playing in the NWCFL Premier Division for the first time.”

Avro Promoted On Greenfields Pitch

Last season saw the club compete in the coveted Buildbase FA Vase for the first time and their most recent promotion which will see them play at step 5 will also open the door to a place in the Emirates FA Cup, a dream for all clubs and footballers alike.

As part of their commitment to supporting non-league football clubs, GreenFields have renewed their sponsorship agreement with Avro FC for the 2019-20 season. Paul Milton, Commercial Director at GreenFields commented: “We are thrilled to see that Avro FC have been promoted for the second year in a row. It’s a brilliant achievement for them and we couldn’t be happier that the GreenFields pitch has played a part in their success. We look forward to seeing them continue to flourish and are proud to be partnering and supporting them for another season.”

More information on GreenFields can be found at www.greenfieldsturf.co.uk

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GreenFields Award Winners Announced

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GreenFields Award Winners Announced: As Official Pitch Partners of the Northern Premier League, GreenFields launched the second Pitch of the Year Awards at the start of the season and crowned the winners at the league’s prestigious annual End of Season Awards on 15 June which took place in Blackpool.

The Pitch of the Year Awards recognise individuals and clubs who work tirelessly to ensure that their pitches look and feel the best that they can despite often having limited resources. With a staggering 90% of member clubs voting for their top pitches, (a 10% increase on last year’s votes), GreenFields then shortlisted the three clubs per division with the highest nominations. The next step was for the experienced, professional GreenFields Grounds Team to visit the nine shortlisted clubs to carry out in-depth pitch inspections.

GreenFields Award Winners Announced

During the pitch inspections the judges marked the surfaces on the following criteria:

Clegg Tests Moisture Tests
Visibility of Lines Overall Grass Coverage
Quality of Grass in Goal Mouth Areas Overall Surface Stability

The judges also interviewed each Groundsman on aspects such as fertiliser frequency and Summer renovation plans as well as taking into account the staff used for pitch maintenance, the maintenance equipment owned by the club, the weather on the day of the visit, the geographical location and weather implications, the average hours of pitch usage and the level of irrigation in place at the club. Whilst visiting each club, GreenFields documented the visits by using a dedicated app and by taking a series of photos.

GreenFields Marketing Manager, Louise Henderson and Commercial Director, Paul Milton attended the awards with Paul presenting the three winning clubs with a trophy along with £500 to spend on pitch maintenance materials or services from GreenFields. Paul commented: “For the second year of running these awards we have been impressed with both the calibre of pitches and the dedication displayed in the individuals we met. Many of the Groundsmen at these clubs are volunteers with limited resources, yet they work tirelessly with passion and enthusiasm to provide their clubs with the best possible match ready surfaces. GreenFields want to ensure that these passionate individuals and clubs receive the recognition they deserve, and we would like to thank all the shortlisted clubs for welcoming us so warmly during the pitch inspections.”

Well done to all the shortlisted clubs and the winners of the awards:

PREMIER

WINNER: South Shields FC

2nd: Bamber Bridge FC

3rd: Nantwich Town FC

EAST

WINNER: Tadcaster Albion FC

2nd: Cleethorpes Town FC

3rd: Stamford AFC

WEST

WINNER: Trafford FC

2nd: Colwyn Bay FC

3rd: Kidsgrove Athletic FC

GreenFields Award Winners Announced

Trafford FC’s Secretary, Graham Foxall commented on their second successive win of the Pitch of the Year Award: “It’s really great to see that our hard work has once again been recognised by our fellow clubs along with GreenFields for the Pitch of the Year Award for the second season in a row.”

Northern Premier League Chairman, Mark Harris commented: “The GreenFields Pitch of the Year scheme has helped the Northern Premier League to focus attention on the quality of all pitches, grass and artificial. By recognising high standards, we encourage others to raise their own, which has to be a positive step.”

More information on GreenFields can be found at www.greenfieldsturf.co.uk

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GreenFields Launch Pitch Awards

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GreenFields Launch Pitch Awards: GreenFields, official Pitch Partner of the EVO-STIK Northern Premier League, have launched their second annual Pitch of the Year Awards. The Pitch of the Year Awards recognise individuals and clubs who work tirelessly to ensure that their pitches look and feel the best that they can despite often having limited resources.

The awards were launched via an online survey sent out to all clubs and they will be able to make one vote for their top pitch in the EVO-STIK NPL. Clubs have 21 days to complete the survey, and with nominations from 80% of member clubs for the 2018 awards GreenFields are hoping that 2019 will see even more clubs cast their all-important vote.

GreenFields Launch Pitch Awards

Paul Milton, Commercial Director at GreenFields commented: “We are incredibly proud to be sponsoring and judging the second EVO-STIK NPL Pitch of the Year Awards and hope that even more clubs vote this year. There is so much hard work and dedication that goes into maintaining a pitch and it is of paramount importance to us that both individuals and clubs receive the recognition they so rightly deserve.”

Once the votes are in GreenFields will be shortlisting three clubs per division to carry out pitch inspections at towards the end of March. The shortlisted pitches will be judged on the following criteria: clegg and moisture results, visibility of lines, overall grass coverage, quality of grass in goal mouth areas and overall surface stability. The judges will also take time to interview each Groundsman on aspects such as fertiliser frequency and Summer renovation plans as well as taking into account the staff used for pitch maintenance, the maintenance equipment owned by the club, the weather on the day of the visit, the geographical location and weather implications, the average hours of pitch usage and the level of irrigation in place at the club. GreenFields will document the visits by using a dedicated app and by taking a series of photos.

EVO-STIK Northern Premier League Chairman, Mark Harris commented: “The quality of playing surfaces is an essential part of any thriving Non-League football club and the volunteers who maintain them are cherished. The Pitch of the Year Awards complement the Football Association’s Groundsman of the Year scheme by giving further recognition to those pitches in the Northern Premier League that are already of an exceptional standard. We are delighted to be working with GreenFields on this initiative.”

As with last year’s winners, (Premier- Whitby Town FC, North- Trafford FC and South- Loughborough Dynamo FC) there will be one winner per division. The winners will be announced at the League’s Annual End of Season Awards on 15 June in Blackpool and will be presented with a trophy along with a £500 voucher to redeem against maintenance materials or services from GreenFields.

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GreenFields Pitch Scoops Award

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GreenFields Pitch Scoops Award: The GreenFields pitch at Scotstoun Stadium, home to top rugby union side, Glasgow Warriors has been crowned ‘Best Managed Artificial Surface’ at this year’s prestigious Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Awards.

Celebrating their 10th anniversary, the industry awards recognise the expertise, dedication, passion and innovation of the grounds profession and surface standards. Glasgow Warriors’ Senior Groundsman, Patrick Ferrie was presented with the accolade at last month’s awards ceremony for his expert maintenance of the woven GreenFields surface at Scotstoun.

GreenFields Pitch Scoops Award

Colin Young, Director of R & D at the TenCate Grass Group commented on the maintenance benefits of a woven artificial system: “Due to the unique woven technology and matrix yarn composition of GreenFields MX, the yarn fibres remain upright and the infill stays mobile making maintenance quicker and easier than with traditional tufted systems.”

The high-tech product, GreenFields MX, is manufactured using patented woven technology resulting in an extremely high tuft bind. This allows the fibres to retain their vertical memory providing a more natural playing experience and aesthetic appearance. The elite woven surface is also in situ at a number of other professional Scottish clubs including Hamilton Academical FC, Falkirk FC, Celtic FC Academy and the National Performance Centre for Sport and excelled recently in an independent survey on pitches, PitchRater, commissioned by the Scottish FA and the Professional Footballer’s Association (PFA). The R & D department at Sports Labs led the project to acquire player feedback on 42 grounds in Scotland. With 3,593 responses, the only artificial surface ranked in the top ten was GreenFields MX which was also placed in three out of the top four positions in the artificial pitch specific rankings.

During the 2015/16 rugby season Glasgow Warriors were unable to play three matches at Scotstoun and a fourth game was postponed which brought on the need for a high-spec artificial surface. Following the installation of the woven 3G pitch with World Rugby professional certification, Jonathan Humphreys, Forwards Coach at Glasgow Warriors spoke recently to Scottish Rugby: “Without a quick, firm surface we would not have been able to play the brand of rugby we wanted to last term which ultimately led us to the semi-finals of the Guinness PRO14.” Beaversbrook Sports Facility, Swindon was named as runner up of the award at this year’s sell-out event attended by more than 650 of the UK’s and Europe’s leading groundscare experts along with dignitaries from the governing bodies of sport.

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Greenfields Awarded Constructionline Gold Certificate

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Greenfields Awarded Constructionline Gold Certificate: GreenFields (Sports Surfaces) UK Ltd have proudly received the Constructionline Gold Certificate, an accolade which is testament to the team’s commitment to excelling in project delivery, workplace and health and safety practices.

Constructionline is the UK’s leading procurement provider and supply-chain management service providing potential buyers with minimised risk combined with optimised supplier performance evidenced by businesses such as GreenFields meeting a range of crucial industry standards.

Greenfields Awarded Constructionline Gold Certificate

The gold (level 3) accreditation ensures that a company abides by current legislations in areas such as modern slavery, anti-bribery and corruption and equal opportunities as well as assessing high standards in environmental management, quality management, equality and diversity, governance and risk management. In addition, GreenFields were assessed for and awarded a Health and Safety SSIP Certificate in SMAS (Safety Management Advisory Services) demonstrating compliance in health and safety legislation to potential buyers.

GreenFields have held Constructionline Silver accreditation for over four years and their demonstration of professional practices has ensured a promotion to the advanced gold level.

Paul Milton, Director at GreenFields commented: “We are proud to have been awarded Constructionline Gold certification, this new accreditation displays to our potential customers that we are a committed and responsible organisation dedicated to building high quality sports pitches and to meeting industry standards as well as relevant legislation and practices.”

With over 300 high quality pitch installations across the UK at a number of educational institutes and high-profile sports facilities, GreenFields UK offer clients a turnkey ‘one-stop shop’ solution combining R & D, manufacturing, design and installation services with performance testing and ongoing pitch maintenance.

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GreenFields Announce New Partnership

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GreenFields Announce New Partnership: GreenFields, sports turf specialists, have announced their new partnership with financial funding experts, Sedulo. The collaboration was officially confirmed at a Stadium Development seminar hosted by GreenFields on 17 May at Hyde United FC. As Official Pitch Partner of the EVO-STIK Northern Premier League, GreenFields hosted the seminar in which ten member clubs attended and were supported by Sedulo who presented ways in which they could support with financing new development plans. This was also supported by the leagues architectural partners, Frank Whittle Partnership (FWP).

With offices in Manchester and Leeds, Sedulo will work with GreenFields on a national basis to support potential clients who have aspirations to obtain new sports pitches but who require financial advice, financial planning and sometimes funding opportunities to be able to attain their goal.

GreenFields Announce New Partnership

Paul Milton, Director of GreenFields commented: “We’ve been looking for a financial partner to meet the growing demand from our clients for financial advice so pairing with financial funding experts Sedulo is an excellent step forward for us to be able to offer this guidance to potential clients. We realise that the aspirations of clubs and educational establishments to install a new sports pitch can sometimes seem financially unrealistic, but now working with Sedulo more of these dreams will be able to become a reality.”

With Sedulo’s comprehensive financial knowledge and capabilities, they are able to assist potential GreenFields clients with the preparation of detailed business plans to support planning submissions for a new synthetic, hybrid or natural grass pitch. They can help put forward the best possible business case for standard funding routes such as through the council, or if typical funding routes aren’t available, Sedulo can match businesses with alternative funding routes when a bank isn’t suitable. They will scour their huge pool of lenders in order to find the best options available for each unique client.

Jack Christian, Senior Funding Manager at Sedulo presented at the seminar and has already received a number of requests from attending clubs for one to one meetings to discuss their financial plans to secure a 3G pitch, he commented: “We are always looking to support new clubs across the UK. Sport is a specialism for Sedulo and we have a lot of experience in advising on the funding and finances for sports clubs. We are keen to work alongside GreenFields to enable more sports clubs to develop their facilities and increase their long-term revenue streams.”

Over the coming months, GreenFields will be working with Sedulo to provide clubs with exclusive financial assistance and information on a one to one basis as well as focusing on running more in-depth development seminars.

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Hyde’s Promotion On GreenFields Pitch

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Hyde’s Promotion On GreenFields Pitch: Hyde United FC are celebrating after an immense second season in the EVO-STIK North, played on their GreenFields MX woven pitch.

Installed between seasons, Hyde United converted from a natural grass pitch to their 3G surface back in August 2016. In less than two years they have seen their revenue increase substantially as a result of pitch bookings and are celebrating their promotion, which they also credit in part to the 3G pitch due to the first team being able to both train and play on the surface.

Hyde's Promotion On GreenFields Pitch

With an unbeaten home record this season under their belts it seems Hyde’s luck is changing after previous relegations which saw them move from the Conference League (now Vanarama) to the EVO-STIK North First Division.

Coming to the end of the first season as EVO-STIK NPL Pitch Partners (providing advice and support to 68 clubs across the North of England) and with an ongoing partnership at Hyde United, GreenFields Director Paul Milton commented: “We couldn’t be happier for Hyde United, they are a fantastic community club and have transformed themselves over the last two seasons which we are pleased to hear is partly due to the 3G pitch. Next season will see them play in the EVO-STIK Premier Division and we will be supporting them throughout and cheering them on to be successful again.”

To celebrate their promotion and cheer them on to maintain their unbeaten home record, GreenFields attended their last match of the season on 28 April and presented them with a £1000 cheque to be used towards sports equipment to support the club in the next season.

Pete Ainger, General Manager at Hyde United FC commented: “”Coming to the end of our second season with the 3G surface, I can say with certainty that it has proved its worth both in terms of Club and Community benefits. It allows us to make full use of the stadium seven days a week, operating a DOE-approved Academy education during the weekdays, school and community sessions plus some commercial usage during most evenings and weekends; that will continue throughout the summer months too. The skill, expertise and customer service from GreenFields has also been excellent. The quality of their surface is without question and tested annually to FIFA PRO quality standard; thankfully a waterlogged pitch for us is now a thing of the past!”

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Expansion of Greenfields UK

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Expansion of Greenfields UK: GreenFields, specialist sports turf manufacturer and installer has expanded their team in the UK and is delighted to confirm the arrival of two new colleagues, Andy Lovell and Stephanie Jones.

Andy Lovell, National Sales Manager at GreenFields UK joins the team with over thirty years’ experience in sales; five of which have been within the sports turf market. His previous role as UK Sales Director at TigerTurf UK Ltd saw him leading the sales function in sports, landscape and education as well as for the UK National Framework sector.

Expansion of Greenfields UK

Since 2013, he has worked with a number of sports pitch contractors in the UK delivering many successful projects. Andy’s new role at GreenFields UK will expand upon this and will see him working on a national basis to increase links and sales opportunities with contracting partners. Andy is passionate about developing a sustainable solution for recycling old, end of life pitches, something which GreenFields is also keen to develop further in the future as part of our eco philosophy.

Andy is looking forward to starting his new role just after the May bank holiday, he commented: “I feel really privileged to be joining the team at GreenFields. It’s an exciting time to be in the synthetic sports pitch market and coming to a company that is synonymous with providing the highest quality, and for delivering systems designed to maximise performance, is a real honour. I look forward to renewing old partnerships – and hopefully building a few new ones.”

Stephanie Jones joins the GreenFields team in the role as Estimator bringing with her five years’ experience in estimating. Stephanie’s role is focused on preparing accurate and competitive cost estimates for a wide range of projects. At the heart of her role is working alongside the client to ensure they get their exact requirements and the best value for money, which means close liaison with suppliers to ensure competitive quoting. Hitting the ground running at GreenFields, Stephanie has already successfully passed a CAD course whilst in post along with undertaking site visits for potential and new clients, something which she is keen to get heavily involved in to ensure a greater more accurate understanding of each project she is pricing.

Paul Milton, Commercial Director at GreenFields UK commented on the new additions to the GreenFields Team: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome both Andy and Stephanie to the team. Andy is bringing with him a wealth of knowledge; his experience has seen him work with all the sport governing bodies and our own trade body- SAPCA. He will be an integral part of sales activity and development in the UK. New in post, Stephanie has professionalised even further our estimating approach and has an extremely organised, accurate way of working which is perfect for her role.”

GreenFields would like to wish their new team members good luck in their new roles!

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