Earning his Spurs - Pitchcare

“Does this
industry
really need
another
bloody
magazine?”
To mark its fifth
anniversary, Peter Britton
charts the success of the
Pitchcare magazine since
its launch in June 2005
Back in May 2005,
coincidentally on the day my
granddaughter was born, I
attended an interview at
Pitchcare’s headquarters in
Wolverhampton - wearing a pink shirt in
honour of the new arrival!
I already knew Dave Saltman from my
association with Turf Professional
magazine, which I had helped launch
back in 1999.
Pitchcare existed as an interactive
website for groundsmen and
greenkeepers, with a then membership of
just over 14,000. It had been launched in
2001 by Dave and former Wolves striker,
John Richards, and proved instantly
popular with turfcare folk.
“I think the magazine is very
good and is probably the best of
them all. So it is
needed and
enjoyed by myself
and my staff.”
Ewan Hunter,
Grounds Manager
Nottingham
Forest FC
“Congratulations on your 5th
Anniversary. Good to have a
magazine with a broad content
and interesting articles.”
SISIS Equipment (Macclesfield)
Ltd
“Five years eh, doesn’t time fly
when you’re having fun!”
Steve Mitchell, ABR Publicity
My remit was to launch a Pitchcare hard
copy magazine. I had been suffering
some ill health and, at the time, the
opportunity to work from home was
important to me, and proved even more
so in the years that followed.
So, armed with a copy of the BTME
and Saltex catalogues, I began to
compile a database of companies and
contacts. Many, of course, I already knew.
We had decided that the magazine
would be bi-monthly and that the launch
issue would be June/July, to be published
at the end of June. This gave me just
over four weeks to put the first one to
bed!
In time honoured fashion, I contacted
my database in alphabetical order,
The views of our readers
“Congratulations
on making it so
far, so well, while
remaining
challenging,
informative and
supportive of the
industry. Best
wishes and good luck for the
next five years, and beyond!”
David Hart and the John Deere
team
“With its widespread and diverse
readership, Pitchcare has
certainly helped get across to
groundsmen and greenkeepers
of all levels the importance of
grass seed selection in
producing quality surfaces -
something that is welcomed by
us as a serious grass seed
breeder. Well done to all at
Pitchcare for making the
magazine such a success and
we look forward to continuing to
work with you to
promote this vital
message.”
Jayne Leyland,
Barenbrug
Research and
Development
Manager
“Congratulations on your 5th
anniversary from everyone at
Campey Turf Care Systems. We
are very happy to have been
involved with the Pitchcare
magazine from its first issue.
We are very pleased too, with
outlining what we hoped to achieve and
sourcing support advertising. One of the
first people I spoke to was Harry Jurgens
of AFT Trenchers whose comment was;
“Does this industry really need another
bloody magazine?”
No, it did not need another magazine
full of press releases and self promotion
but, what it did need, in our opinion, was
a magazine dedicated to groundsmen
and greenkeepers, highlighting the work
they do and the issues they face on a dayto-day
basis. More FHM than IOG was
how I tried to explain it.
More by chance than design, the
England cricket team were about to set
off on their ultimately successful 2005
Ashes campaign, so our editor, the
the professionalism and topics
covered, and to see it develop
into one of the best editorials.”
Campey Turf Care Systems.
“Congratulations to everyone at
Pitchcare magazine on your 5th
anniversary. Continue the good
work and keep providing the
interesting and informative
articles that help to promote
best practice within the turf care
sector. We look forward to
celebrating your 10th
anniversary.”
Ransomes Jacobsen
“Bayer Environmental Science
would like to take this
opportunity to congratulate
Pitchcare on the 5th anniversary