Tag Archive for: groundsman

Award For Council Groundsman

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Award For Council Groundsman: An award has been presented to a member of Tendring District Council’s Open Spaces team for his work maintaining a popular cricket pitch.

Chris Russell won the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Cricket Championship Groundsman Award at the annual general meeting of the Essex Cricket Board Groundsman Association.

Chris was given the award for his work preparing pitches at Clacton Cricket Club’s Vista Road ground during the 2017 season. The pitches received top marks from a panel of umpires right across the season.

Stuart Kerrison, head groundsman at Essex County Cricket Club’s Chelmsford ground, presented Chris with his award.

Barry Dunwell, the outgoing chairman of Clacton Cricket Club, said the club was fortunate to have such a hard-working, dedicated and conscientious groundsman preparing their pitches.

“It was not a surprise that Chris received this accolade for his efforts,” he added.

Chris works at a number of recreation grounds right across the District in his role with Tendring District Council.

Trevor Mills, Open Space Manager at Tendring District Council, added his congratulations to Chris.

“We all know how hard Chris works to look after our open spaces, and his sterling efforts at Clacton Cricket Club are just one example of his year-round fine work,” he said.

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Groundsman Nominated For Award

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Groundsman Nominated For Award: A member of staff from Colwyn Bay Football Club has been nominated for a prestigious award.

Elfyn Jones was nominated for the Evo-Stik North Groundsman of the Year, and his sterling efforts throughout the season have seen him reach the final three.

The 52-year-old Rhyl resident will now attend at glitzy award ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in Blackpool on Saturday, June 16 where the winner will be announced.

Jones is in his second season volunteering with the Seagulls after previously holding a position with Warrington Town, and he has also assisted at National League side Chester at times during the campaign.

He spends between 25 and 30 hours a week working on the pitch at Llanelian Road, combining his time at the club with the tanning salon he runs in the area, where he spends 35 hours a week on average.

Jones, said: “I didn’t expect to get this far and I am surprised, but having praise off referees and home and away fans regarding how good the pitch is looking is so nice to hear.

“This makes all worthwhile and the players also have a good surface to play on. I sometimes work longer when we’re playing at home as there’s preparation in brushing, slitting and aeration work needs doing. Also fertilising when required.”

This recognition is even more significant when you consider the terrible weather conditions that have blighted the domestic game over the winter months, which has made the preparation process extremely challenging for Jones and other groundsmen in the region.

“This season has been the worst ever, the amount of rain we’ve had has made life difficult,” he added.

“I was unable to put the tractor on the pitch for three weeks due to it being simply too wet. The last few months I’ve been more busy on my sponge roller collecting water off the pitch than I ever have before.”

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Award For Clay Cross Groundsman

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Award For Clay Cross Groundsman: Another prestigious award has been snapped up by Lee Watson, the groundsman for Clay Cross Town Football Club.

For Watson has been named Derbyshire FA groundsman of the year for the third time, and will now go on to try and win again the national award, which he landed in 2015.

“This is a fantastic achievement by Lee,” said Jamie Griffiths, marketing and communications officer for Derbyshire FA. “It is reward for his brilliant work this season.

“Lee was also the national winner three years ago, and he will be hoping to repeat that feat later in the year.”

The competition was open to non-league clubs playing on step seven of the non-league ladder. Clay Cross play in the North division of the Central Midlands League.

The aim of the awards is to recognise and reward groundsmen who dedicate endless hours to improve grass pitches in Derbyshire. Most of them work as unpaid volunteers.

Nominations were received from several clubs, with the runner-up being Kevin Harlow, of Hilton Harriers, and third place going to Phil Toy, of Wingerworth Junior Sports Association.

In addition, Barry Newton and Roger Kerry, joint groundsmen at Alfreton District Amateur Sports Club, were deemed to be highly recommended.

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Posh Defender Turns Groundsman

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Posh Defender Turns Groundsman: Peterborough United defender Steven Taylor played an extended role in his team’s victory on Tuesday night, by helping to sweep snow off the lines at the ABAX Stadium.

Peterborough were hosting Walsall in a League One clash but heavy snow in the second half meant the pitch was hardly visible.

The Posh were 2-1 up in the 80th minute when the referee halted play to ensure snow could be cleared off the pitch.

And it was former England U21 captain and Newcastle centre-half Steven Taylor who was the hero of the hour.

Taylor was seen desperately shovelling snow to make the lines visable so play could continue.

“Steven Taylor is a hero,” one fan wrote on Twitter.

Another said: “Steven Taylor not only clears the backline he now helps clear the lines on the pitch.”

“So Steven taylor was literally playing the ‘sweeper’ role tonight. #PUFC,” said another supporter.

There was a seven minute break in play as the ground staff and home players brushed the snow on the pitch.

Peterborough eventually ran out 2-1 winners to earn their first victory in eight games.

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2018 Groundsman Award

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2018 Groundsman Award: Now taking place for the 11th year, The FA’s Groundsman of the Year awards were created to recognise the contribution of these unsung heroes of the grassroots game and encourage the development of groundsmanship.

The majority of football in this country is played outside the Football League. Quality pitches are therefore essential for the development of football at every level. Grassroots groundspeople, the vast majority of whom are volunteers, play a huge role in ensuring pitches are in their best possible condition, week in, week out.

2018 Groundsman Award

The current award structure is as follows. There are separate awards for:

• The Football Conference (Steps 1 and 2)
• Northern Premier League
• Southern League
• Isthmian League
• Steps 3 and 4 National Award
• Steps 5 and 6 National Award
• Step 7 and Below National Award

Step 1 – 6 Clubs are nominated by their respective Leagues, while Step 7 and below clubs are selected by their County FA following local nominations. The top recommendations from each League and County are visited by FA judges who draw up the final shortlist.

These six judges are all groundsmen at Premier League and Championship football clubs across the country. They not only look at the quality of the pitch, but also take into consideration the groundsman’s skills and knowledge, their ambitions for the pitch, the resources available, how often the pitch is used, and the amount of time they are able to work on the pitch.

Each local winning groundsperson will be presented with a trophy at their respective home grounds on the day of a pre-season friendly or league game and then are recognised again at the Oxfordshire FA Awards Evening later this year. The Groundsman of the Year Awards Presentation brings together all the award winners, runners-up and highly commended groundsman for a day at St. George’s Park which includes lunch, a tour of the facility and the awards presentation.

Oxfordshire nominations for Step 7 and below are now OPEN!

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