these Open Championship Clubs choose to relief grind - Pitchcare

Very little goalmouth wear Spot on Spotland in January 2012
football friendly against Leeds United on
the 19th July. It’s a demanding schedule
on new growth,” admits Phil. “A lot of
hard work is required to get the pitches
up and running, and I was doing this all
on my own at this time!”
Phil’s skills were again tested in August
when he had five games in just ten days;
two back-to-back football matches,
followed by one rugby, one football and,
finally, another rugby match. “Having a
fibresand pitch certainly helps; divot
damage is greatly reduced compared to
the soil based pitch. It is all about
attention to detail. We get on when the
weather is favourable, apply fertilisers,
fungicides, water and wetting agents as
and when the pitch needs it, whilst being
thorough and precise when undertaking
pre and post match maintenance
regimes.”
“One of my biggest bugbears during
the playing season is the damage done
by warms ups and warm downs,” says
Phil. “With little or no spare space off
the pitch, all of the warm up drills are
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carried out on the playing surface. Fast
feet drills are the worst,” bemoans Phil.
“It’s not so bad when coaches rotate the
drills, but some teams are adamant about
conducting repetitive drills in one spot. I
try to ‘educate’ the coaches to
understand the problem, so that they can
at least try to help reduce the damage.
Our lot are pretty good, but some
visiting teams ...!”
Verticutting and regular brushing helps
keep the pitch in good order. Mowing
heights are kept between 28-30mm. Phil
has a set of frost sheets to cover the pitch
during icy conditions, using the heavier,
thicker sheets in the shaded areas. “They
have only been required a couple of
times so far this season, in complete
contrast to last winter.”
Aeration is undertaken every three to
four weeks using their Vertidrain 7316.
“The operation takes up to five hours to
complete the whole pitch,” explains Phil,
“and I generally combine it with a feed.”
The club have recently acquired the
use of a new training venue, moving to
Manor Farm, a twenty-four acre site, with
a view of securing a long term lease in
the coming year. The site boasts four full
size pitches and accommodation for
players, together with full office, kitchen
and rest and relaxation areas.
In the past, the club had ties with
Rochdale Cricket Club, using two of their
lacrosse pitches for training. “The Manor
Farm site will give us greater control over
the appearance and playability of our
training pitches,” says Phil, “and, in
time, we hope to emulate the surface of
the stadium pitch.”
On a mild January day in Greater
Manchester, Rochdale’s pitch looks a
picture, with little goalmouth wear and
good grass coverage; a perfect scenario
for the start of the new Rugby League
season. That, of course, will test the skills
of Phil and Drew but, judging
by comments from visiting
coaches from both sports,
they have one of the best
playing surfaces in the
north-west.
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Winter Sports
“To give you some idea of what we have to
contend with, our first match of this season
was a Rugby League game on 3rd July, just
five weeks after sowing”
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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 PC 69