Two Farmers, A Shepherd's Daughter & A Mucky Duck

By Barbara
October 15 2004

A thread on the board spurred me on to something I’d been meaning to do for a while. Farmer Chris & his partner Ellie had been an enormous help when we organised our first balloon race last year. We’d stayed in touch since, so I had no hesitation in asking Chris if he would give me an interview.

I started the ball rolling by emailing him 45 questions!

“Start work on those and I’ll buy you a pint down The White Swan while you answer them.”

I’d heard that Farmer Martin, (Chris’s predecessor) has been known to visit the same illustrious watering hole on occasion too, so said he’d be welcome to join us.

When I picked Chris up from the bungalow he told me he’d had a call from Martin.......”Is she bringing Jason, as I’m happy to make up a foursome but don’t want to play gooseberry?” The tone for the evening was set......

(Aha! My parents used to run a nursery.....plants not babies...... and we employed someone who was “local authority” trained.)
Chris told me that Leicester had over 300 acres of parks and sports grounds. He was trained in hard and soft landscaping and prepared football, cricket and rugby pitches. He’s dealt with the drainage of a golf course, done tarmacking and worked on bowling greens.
AND...... 
YES! He has planted up roundabouts with salvias etc!
He was also a keen member of the Leicester Alpine Society, becoming Show Secretary at the tender age of 20.

What do you like most about working at The Stoop?
It’s a people’s club. You feel valued. I love preparing the pitch for the first team.

What do you like least about working at The Stoop?
Negativity from some quarters. (Dare I say, “More later”?)

How many games get played on the pitch?
You’re looking at about 30 games. Then there’s 24 “2hour training runs”, coaching clinics, the curtain raisers, 7s competitions.

What about the training pitch?
What training pitch? It has marquees on it for internationals and is also used as a car park.

Aldershot. I heard you were working on those pitches too.
I’ve been over there on a consultative basis. Someone else, recommended by me, is working on them and they are improving.

What impact did the new North stand have and how will the new West stand affect you?
The new North stand had comparatively little impact.....all I had to do was move the goal posts, the irrigation pipe work and the pop-up sprinklers.

The new West Stand will have a huge impact on everyone. It will cause massive disruption to the staff, players and fans. It will also make me homeless!!

Run through a typical week for me.

Mon/Tues....repairs to pitch for previous weekend....a lot of damage is caused by scrums etc. Divotting, replacing and lifting. Clean surface by brushing or verti-cutting (leaf pruning) with the pedestrian machine.

Wed/Thurs.....Mow and roll to block patterns. Attend Match operations meeting. Walk over whole pitch again to do further divotting as you always miss some.

Fri... Roll and brush before the team run and then another quick walkover afterwards repairing any divots.

The final match preparation involves a double roll, marking out the pitch and painting the logos.

Sat.... Finish off any jobs left over from Friday. Walkover the pitch making final checks. Get out the flag and post protectors, organise the ball boys.

All the equipment has to be kept clean and maintained.

 

The time had come.........I made sure his glass was full, took a deep breath and asked........

What about kids running on the pitch after a game?

A few kids running on the pitch at certain times of the year is not going to do much harm.......however..... this is very young grass....it’s less than four months old! What really causes the damage is playing rugby on it. It’s a damage limitation exercise. My job is to keep the pitch in the best possible condition for matches. I owe it to the players and the club to give them the best playing surface I can.

After these “run arounds” I also find an incredible amount of debris. I’ve picked up countless bits of broken glass, sharps from shattered plastic wine glasses and crushed pens. There are enough playing injuries without this added risk.

The pitch condition is discussed at the match operations meetings and it is agreed then, whether access should be given to the fans but obviously weather changes have an impact. A final decision is made during the match and the operations team are advised if necessary. Because of the rainfall during the Bath game announcements were made for the fans to stay off the pitch and the message was flashed on the Sky/Gillette screen.

Chris takes huge pride in the pitch as did Farmer Martin before him. It is a “show piece”. They are professionals whose work and expertise is held in high regard in their “field” (sorry). I think we, the supporters, should show our appreciation by respecting their wishes and the clubs instructions.

 

If you weren’t a groundsman what else would you be?
It has been discussed but I’ve really no idea.

Ben Willis.....should Evs have kept him?
I tend to the grass. Evs tends to the team.

Who do you get on best with at the club?
I get on with everyone. No favourites.

When will Quins next win?
I know the players and coaching staff are working very hard towards our next game for a win.

What’s your favourite Quins experience been so far?
Has to be winning the PPCC Final! That equalled LCFC winning the Coca Cola Cup in my first season with them.

Moving the Munster home game to HQ....what do you think?
We’re talking about a game against Munster, a club with a huge following, especially for the Heineken Cup, which will also attract the large Irish following around these parts. With The Stoop’s capacity reduced, I would have thought it makes sound business sense to move the game to a higher capacity venue.

HQ is not exactly a million miles away, is it?

I want to be a groundsman ......what do I do?
Do an HNC or HND at an agricultural or horticultural college or a modern apprenticeship.

I know you read CAW......do you ever post?
Occasionally. 

Chris, you’re a family man. Is The Stoop a good family day out?
It’s excellent! The whole atmosphere is very friendly, the facilities are great.

Does “farmersgirl” post to order? (After we’d all stopped laughing)
NO!

Does she give you as hard a time as she gives the board? (She’s never given me a hard time.)
I think I probably give her more of a hard time than she gives me.

Twickenham or Leicester.....where would you rather live?
Probably Twickenham, there’s so much to do. London is close by. Obviously I’d prefer to have Ellie and the family here too.

Why did you dig up the pitch and re-sow it this year? Was it a risk?
I didn’t “dig it up”. We stripped off the vegetation and heavily aerated it.

There were the wrong types of grass species- a good pitch needs rye grass species that produce good, deep and strong root systems, not the annual meadow grass (shallow rooting) that had infested it and strangled out the rye grass. Annual meadow grass infests very quickly and will look nice and green in the warm weather but will deteriorate very quickly during the cold weather.

Top tips for the prefect lawn, please.

Regular cutting and always collect the cuttings.
Scarify or rake every spring.
Aerate.
Top dress and re-seed.
Regularly weed and feed.
Water when necessary.

Are there pitch awards and is there a groundsmen’s association?
There are awards for football and rugby league but not for rugby union. The Institute of Groundsmanship is our national body. (Had a quick google and it looks fascinating!)

Chris and Martin spent a week this summer travelling around the UK judging football pitches.

I often hear that you’re off to foreign parts....tell me more. (Martin pipes up, “You mean “Jollies!”.)
International seed manufacturers and other interested parties often seek out the valued opinions of top groundsmen on seed and grass types etc. It’s a science, you know!

The farmers went very technical, we were three pints into the evening and I decided it was time to draw the evening to a close.

There were several questions which Chris declined to answer........ because....... he’s saving the answers for a couple of articles he’s been invited to write for the programmes!!!

CAW.....leading the way ...as usual!