After Southampton FC and its rising young stars attracted much acclaim for their brand of flair football on the pitch, now the quality of its pitch has won a prestigious accolade for its grounds manager.
Andy Gray and the team at Southampton FC have been named joint Barclays Premier League Grounds Team of the year for the 2013/2014 season along with Arsenal FC in the annual scheme run by the Playing Surfaces Committee in conjunction with the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI).
Andy’s skills were recognised for producing the best joint playing surface in the top division and a key part of that winning mix was using A20 Premier Ryesport from Germinal Seeds.
Southampton's St Mary's Stadium earns its stripes for pitch quality with the help of Germinal Seeds
It was a further demonstration of A20’s qualities as last year Swindon Town FC’s head groundsman won the npower League One Pitch of the Year after using a grass seed mixture based around A20 Premier Ryesport.
Delighted Andy, who leads a team of seven ground staff at Southampton, across the two sites, said: “I’m very proud to win the award but it is a team effort. Everybody in our team has their own important role to play and everybody is proud of our achievements this year, both at the stadium and training ground.
“I started using A20 Premier Ryesport at our main stadium and training ground last year and have been very pleased with the results. I will carry on using it next season because it has the best germination and establishment.
“I hope the quality of our pitch contributed to the team’s attractive style of football. We will continue to do all we can to help the players maintain and build on the success for next season.”
Sandy Pentecost, technical sales representative with Germinal Seeds (GB), who advised Andy on the attributes of A20, said: “The Barclays Premier League Grounds Team of the Year award for Andy is well deserved as the pitch looks fantastic and worthy of the most exciting league in the world. We are pleased our seed has given such standout performance and delivered the quality results he required.
“We have real confidence in our Grade A mixtures which include vigorous lots of the most highly rated cultivars available. A20 has the wear tolerance, shoot density and cleanness of cut which makes it ideal for top sports facilities.”
The Grounds Team of the Year awards recognise the importance of the quality of pitches for professional football and acknowledge the people responsible for producing the best playing surfaces in each division.
The scoring system is based on marks for specific aspects of pitch and management performance. It is compiled using marks from referees and match delegates at each premier league match. There is also a pitch assessment visit by the STRI and an assessment of each clubs’ management of the pitch.
Last year Germinal Seeds’ customer Marcus Cassidy of Swindon Town FC won the npower League One Pitch of the Year Award for the 2012/2013 season.
He selects his own bespoke ‘Your A20’ grass seed mixture based around A20 Premier Ryesport and also relies on the company for his fertilisers.
Joe Hendy, his Germinal Seeds (GB) technical sales representative, said: “Marcus and the club are very happy with our products and the results they achieve. We are a year into a three year contract to supply Swindon Town and it is a partnership which is working well.”
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