It is often claimed that in the English Premier League, the sky is the limit in order to maintain a healthy pitch. However, a growing number of grounds teams in other more modest leagues have also started embracing techniques and technologies to pursue the ultimate pitch. Take KRC Genk from the Belgian Pro League, for example. Groundsman Eddy van Endert praises the relatively young age of the club’s management as one of the strengths that allows him and his team of six FTE and some volunteers to excel. “The club is currently undergoing a rejuvenation. For example, my line manager is only one year older than me and we are really encouraged to consider innovations,” says the man who is in his early thirties. Van Endert is responsible for the hybrid stadium field, the two synthetic turf and four natural turf fields at the youth complex as well as the almost three training fields of the main team. Furthermore, they look after the stadium field in nearby Geel that is used by the development team. “I have my own budget but am required to motivate major investments. Fortunately, management’s focus is on what is best over what is the cheapest.” This has allowed him to renew and modernize almost his entire range of machinery in just four years. Yet van Endert is convinced that this has helped him to save the club money without the quality of the field being affected. “Last winter, we were not allowed to use pitch heating because of the extremely high prices that were charged for energy. By using other techniques, we managed to still maintain the pitch in a relatively good condition.” More about that later.