The English FA Facilities & Investment Team has been working in partnership with Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) to develop a Grass Pitch Maintenance service that can be utilised by grassroots football clubs to improve the quality of grass pitches.
The key principles behind the service are to provide football clubs with advice/practical solutions on a number of areas, with the simple aim of improving the club’s playing surface.
A number of professional football club groundsmen have been identified and signed up to the service and will be available to visit selected clubs. To qualify for a visit, a club will need to own their own site or be responsible for maintenance of the grass pitches.
They will also have to complete the PIP EOI form and return to the relevant Football Development Manager. The IOG Regional Pitch Advisor will contact the club to arrange a pitch visit. Once the site-visit has been conducted, the club will receive a report detailing what is required to manage, maintain and develop your pitch(es). The IOG regional Pitch Advisor will visit the club at a later date to monitor progress made.
Pitch Assessment Visits
Rob Donnelly from the IOG will carry out site visits and offer practical and realistic advice on pitch maintenance based on a club’s budget, level of expertise, access to equipment and time available. Every participant will receive a summary report containing recommendations of how to progress the site’s maintenance programme. Visits are available to identified clubs who own their own site or are responsible for pitch maintenance and their pitch providers and can be requested via the Expression of Interest form.
Funding Guidance
Pitch Assessment Visit reports may, where recommended, identify areas of need for further investment such as machinery or drainage. Where this is the case we will support you to use the report as the basis for funding applications to bodies such as the Football Foundation.
For further information on how you can access this support, please contact Bob.Leeds@Amateur-FA.com.