As we celebrate Grounds Week, we sat down with Head of Grounds, Dale Gregory to get an insight into his role and the work his team do.
Currently, there is a lot of work being taken done or planned at the Sky Blue Lodge, with both pitches set for extensive work and investment.
Dale also speaks about the role his team do away from the pitches and what a day in the life of a grounds person at Coventry City looks like.
Talking through Dale’s past experiences and an introduction…
“I’ve been Head of Grounds here at Coventry City now for 11 months. I joined from Leicester City FC, where I was for just over three years based at the King Power Stadium.
“The last 18 months of my time there I was lucky enough to be pitch manager, meaning I was in charge of the stadium pitch on a day-to-day basis.
“I’ve been in the industry for 16 years now, starting at the Sky Blue Lodge as an apprentice, before going off into working on golf courses and doing so in America and Sweden, along with the UK.
“I have also gained experience working at Reading FC and Birmingham City FC, as well as being able to prepare world class surfaces for events such as the 2012 Olympics, 2013 Presidents Cup and the 2015 Rugby World Cup.”
Who is in the Grounds team…
“We currently have a team of five, including myself and we are spread over two sites.
“At Ryton we have Myself as Head of Grounds, Bradley Darlaston as Sports Turf Operative and Charlie Bendall as Apprentice Sports Turf Operative.
“At the Alan Higgs Centre, there is Neil Matts as Deputy Head Groundsperson and Cole Edwards as Apprentice Sports Turf Operative.”
What a typical training day is like…
“A typical day will start with us all getting there around 7:30am and the lads have some breakfast.
“We then talk about the day ahead and what jobs are needed to be completed. Training is generally at 10:30am so depending on the time of year we will either cut the pitch or we will just divot from training the day before.
“We then liaise with the coaching staff to move goals around and apply any water that may be needed before they start.
“Once training has started, we look at having a tidy up in our garage or take on any other jobs that may need to be done around the site. We then look at getting our jobs set up for after training, whether that’s rotary mowing, divoting or any other jobs we can get done.”
What a non-training day is like…
“A non-training day starts with the same as every day, everyone in for 7:30am.
“We use these days to carry out jobs that are easier to perform when people are not around such as marking, spraying, fertilising or aerating.”
The other work that goes into the site…
“As well as the pitches here at the lodge we are pretty much responsible for everything else outside of the building meaning we have to maintain all of the flower beds, trees and shrubs, clean all the hard standing areas as well as cut all the non-playing banks and lawns.”
What work goes in during the off-season…
“Everyone thinks we get the summer off with the football staff as well, but unfortunately we don’t as it’s actually our busiest time.
“In normal years when not having the major work carried out like we are this year, as soon as the last training session is finished, we get contractors in and we strip off all the grass and dead vegetation from the season, leaving us with a clean surface again.
“We then apply around 90 tonnes of sand, aerate to decompact and allow air deeper in the substructure, add some nutrients and the sow new grass seed into the surface.
“This normally is carried out in around 4-5 days and then normally gives us around a six week window to grow the grass again ready for preseason to start. Whilst this is going on, it gives us a good opportunity to give the whole site a good tidy up and carry out any projects we want to achieve to keep the facility clean, tidy and inviting ready for the football staff's return.”
Talks us through the work currently being done at the Sky Blue Lodge…
“We are having a whole site reconstruction; this means we are building the pitches again from the start.
“Using an outside company we are installing new sub-base, new irrigation, new drainage, new hybrid reinforcement and new netting.
“We will then grow new grass into the surface on Pitch 2 in time for pre-season, with Pitch 1 being ready later in the year.
Why it’s important work that was needed…
“Last summer was the first substantial work to be carried put on the playing surfaces at Ryton in a very long time and this season shows how it has improved the quality of surface available to train on.
“With that in mind we wanted to further enhance the quality of the training facilities and the processes we are carrying out now achieves that.
“This will give us the best quality surface possible, all year round for the first team and once completed, they will last 10-15 years before any major work is carried out again.
“We need to start Pitch 2 now so that we are ready for preseason, as it’s such a long process. We will need about 8-10 weeks to reconstruct the pitch and then 6-8 weeks to grow the new grass back in ready for the end of June.”
How it will help for the future…
“It will help for the future as we won’t need to do any major work on the pitches for 10-15 years, only the standard end of season renovation where we take off the old vegetation and re-grow new grass.
“Carrying out this work will allow the first team squad better conditions and pitches all year round to train on.”
