Josh Rimington, who heads the grounds team at the club, spoke about the work currently ongoing to resurface the pitches at both the SMH Group Stadium and the Erwin Training Ground.
“Everything’s gone to plan as usual with the contractors we use, we do trust who we use and they’ve been partners with us for a long time,” he said.
“It’s become standard practice in our industry really to get to the end of the season and then bring the pitches up at both sites.
“The work has been the same here and at the Erwin Training Ground. It’s been done across both sites for the first time since I’ve been here.
“Obviously the pitches have changed at the training ground in the last couple of years so it’s been fully stripped down there as well. It’s done everywhere and it’s now the most important time to set us up for the season.”
After receiving recognition from the EFL for the high quality of the pitch throughout the season, Josh added: “It was nice. We found out back in January that our scores were fairly well above average. We knew then we were in a good spot. Then we were thinking about getting February and March out of the way so we’d be home and dry.
“It was great to get nominated with the other clubs. There are some really good pitches up and down the divisions really, so it was nice to make it in our first year back in the league.”
Ashley Kirk spoke further on the topic during the latest We Are Sailing podcast, saying: “When you cut the grass throughout the season, you can’t pick up all the grass, it eventually mulches down and turns into soil and mud, and what a football pitch needs is drainage and grass growing.
“What it doesn’t want is something that will stop the water draining away. So, if you don’t rip it up and you just keep cutting and mowing it, the soil and the base prevents the drainage so it reduces the ability for the pitch to drain and causes problems.
“The other reason they do it is to level it. As you go through the season there’s humps and hollows that develop in the pitch, just little ones not big ones, but if you don’t take the grass off and level it they’ll get worse and worse.”
Josh went into further detail on the work here.
