Bolton Wanderers have become one of the first in the country to order a new Hayter CT2140 compact triple mower from Gibson’s Garden Machinery. The new ride-on mower has a cutting width of 2120 mm (83.5”), excellent manoeuvrability and low running costs.

For details of the Toro Grandstand and the new CT2140 together with information on the full Hayter range, log onto www.hayter.co.uk or call 0800 781 7155.

“The arrangement came about at least fifteen years ago, when the then All England Lawn Tennis Championship Coordinator, Richard Oxborough, approached us regarding treatment couches, so that players could warm up and cool down properly,” says Plinth 2000 MD, Niall Dyer.

“We agreed to lend them for free, so long as our transport costs were covered, and have done so ever since,” he continues, “although they have also purchased couches from us, so now they probably own more than they borrow. The feedback regarding the arrangement and product has always been very positive and we assume that some very famous names have been treated on our couches, although we’re not certain exactly who.”

The couches normally supplied to Wimbledon are Plinth 2000’s robust, 2-section 502 treatment couch, whose strong and stable frame provides a safe, sturdy, flex-free platform for manipulation and therapy. The AELTC also borrows and has bought the very popular and versatile 3-section 503 treatment plinth, with fully adjustable foot and backrest, which provides an ideal base for general physio techniques, through to heavy manipulation.

Since the preferred location for the couches is the middle of the changing rooms, where there is limited power supply, eleven of the couch tables feature hydraulic height and backrest adjustment. However, one was specified with electric motors and foot controls, for hands-free operation. Safety features include upholstery impregnated with antimicrobial technology, a generous 25” table width, a breathing hole that allows players to lie face-down in comfort, and a safe working load of 225kg (35 stone), although it’s highly unlikely that super-fit Wimbledon athletes will ever test that capacity.

“Like most Brits, every year we hope against hope for a home-grown success at Wimbledon,” adds Niall. “But at least fans can be reassured that, at the conclusion of the tournament, at least one British name will still be around in the changing rooms.”

Further enquiries to Plinth 2000, Wetheringsett Manor, Wetheringsett, Stowmarket IP14 5PP, Tel 01449 767 887, email sales@plinth2000.com or visit the website at www.plinth2000.com.

Delighted MD at Clayton Park, Barry Thomas said: ”We are thrilled by this award which recognises our commitment to providing top quality pies. Using locally sourced ingredients, we work closely with our customers to make sure we provide the ideal range of pies for them. At Accrington Stanley our most popular pie is the potato and meat.”

Commenting on the award, Accrington Stanley’s Commercial Manager, Martin Edmundson said: “It’s an honour to win this award. The achievement marks just one of the developments taking place at the club and we are proud to be selected number one by the visiting Directors. We look forward to continuing our winning partnership with Clayton Park Bakery; in the upcoming season they will be providing catering for our external outlets and bars.”

A British Retail Consortium accredited bakery, Clayton Park supply pies to football clubs in all four English leagues in the North West including Liverpool, Everton, Oldham Athletic, Rochdale, and Preston North End.  They were proud winners in last year’s British Pie Awards achieving two silver Football Pie Awards from Everton FC for their chicken balti pie and Rochdale FC for their steak and kidney pie. The bakery is also proud to be working in partnership with Lancashire County Cricket Club, Spar and Booths Supermarkets.

Established in 1994, Clayton Park Bakery is happy to work with its customers to develop a bespoke service to suit their specific requirements and a fast and efficient delivery is guaranteed from the bakery’s Clayton Le Moors HQ conveniently located just off Junction 7 of the M65.

More information on the bakery’s range of pies, cakes and bread available at: www.pietastic.com or on 01254 393200

Executive chef Peter Reed oversees the catering operation, ensuring that the food and service match the facilities. To help meet high customer expectations, two FRIMA VarioCooking Centershave been installed at the stadium by Bournville Catering Equipment.

The VarioCooking Center is a new generation of cooking system which sets out to change the way chefs operate in the kitchen. Designed to make many conventional cooking systems obsolete, the VarioCooking Center is a multi-purpose cooking tool combining a tilting pan, a kettle and a deep-fat fryer, making a compact three-way system with a sophisticated and easy to use computerised control and monitoring system.

In the Holte Suite, at the legendary Holte End of Villa Park, a large VarioCooking Center 311 features in the new-build production kitchen. As well as offering match-day dining facilities for season ticket holders, the Holte Suite is a purpose-built venue for events from conferences and black-tie dinners through to trade exhibitions.

Match-day meals need to be served quickly. French fries are a core part of the menu, with the VarioCooking Center’s deep fat fryer function coming into its own, “Popular match-day meals are roasts, pies and curries, and it’s chips with everything” says Peter.

The VarioCooking Center cooks up to 50 per cent faster than conventional appliances, with up to 40 per cent lower energy and water consumption, less food shrinkage and lower fat consumption. The faster cooking times and savings in running costs come via a feature called VarioBoost. This uses a network heating structure that helps to prevent the food from sticking in the pan. VarioBoost can raise the cooking temperature to 250C in under four minutes, for example searing up to 60kg of goulash meat in only 17 minutes - cooking it to perfection - and maintaining the heat even when the pan is filled with food.

Using the greater throughput offered by the VarioCooking Center over a standard deep fat fryer, the Holte suite has seen the number of portions of chips served on a typical match-day increase from around 1500 to 2300 portions. This enables more of the club’s fans to enjoy a meal in the build up to the match, as well as boosting sales.

To achieve consistent cooking results the unit is fitted with a VarioCooking Control which allows the chef to select the type of food to be cooked. The unit then automatically detects the size and amount of food and adjusts the cooking parameters to suit.

In the Directors kitchen, a compact VarioCooking Center 112 has been installed, replacing a deep fat fryer and solid top. The Directors is a versatile, modern function suite overlooking the pitch. As well corporate hospitality on match-days, the suite is used throughout the week as a venue for receptions, conferences, gala dinners and company meetings.

“The a la carte menu in The Directors changes all the time,” says Peter. “We use the VarioCooking Center for many different cooking methods, including poaching, shallow-frying, baking and even sous-vide.

“For example one dish is pheasant breast marinated in brandy with a little thyme. We cook it slowly in the bag, and then finish it by gently pan frying it. One of the biggest benefits of the VarioCooking Center has been the lack of shrinkage when it comes to cooking meat, which has generated considerable cost savings. There have also been time savings which in turn generates lower labour costs.”

Patented technologies on the VarioCooking Center include an automatic food recognition system, a core temperature probe, a water drain system, and automatic lift/lowering that ensures accurate cooking of pasta, poached and deep-fried foods. A full range of accessories is available, including dedicated baskets and carts for special foods, and multiple VarioCooking Center units can be linked together by computer for remote monitoring and data logging of the cooking processes for HACCP.

For more information on Aston Villa Hospitality FC visit www.avhe.co.uk or call 0800 612 0960.

FRIMA is currently expanding its distributor network in the UK. For information and brochures, or to come to a free Cooking Live demonstration, call FRIMA UK on 0870 312 0321, emailinfo@frima-uk.co.uk or visit www.frima-uk.co.uk

Eagle Green Care is the only approved and registered nematicide legally available for use on amenity and sports turf.

The product is derived from natural plant extracts and boasts a broad spectrum effect in actually killing nematodes, whilst maintaining an environmental profile. Eagle Green Care is totally safe to the user and has undergone several in vitro and field trials to establish its efficacy in controlling all species of nematodes under the auspices of AFBI in Belfast through its Director of Research Dr Colin Fleming.

Commenting on the current research programme for Eagle Green Care, Dr Fleming said “the data developed thus far looks very exciting and promising with a high level of consistency. In vitro and field trials have confirmed the product is actually killing a wide range of nematodes (it kills the freeliving juvenile stage of endoparasites) and the profile of Eagle Green Care makes it an ideal candidate for the environmentalist as it is derived from natural plant extracts.”

So where and how did Eagle Green Care develop and come to show such promise in a world, which is losing so many plant protection products?

ECOspray Ltd, the developers of Eagle Green Care are an independent company based in rural west Norfolk. Formed in 1997 by 2 farming families, whose ethos was to develop “safe” pesticides based on a sound scientific trials and research programme. Dr Murree Groom, Technical Director for ECOspray heads up the R&D within the company. Commenting on the research undertaken, Dr Groom said that “Progress to develop a range of plant protection products that are effective, safe and sustainable has been a real challenge in a world where even synthetic products take 10 years to develop and cost upwards of £100 million. The real success for us was to gain an Annex 1 approval, which firmly places ECOspray’s products within the basket of approvals, sitting alongside the likes of Syngenta, Bayer and DuPont. Just to have an environmentally benign nematicide is like finding the Holy Grail!”

So where can Eagle Green Care be used? Stephen Silvester, Sales Manager for ECOspray says, “Eagle Green Care is a broad spectrum nematicide for use on all sports turf situations, golf courses, football and rugby pitches, bowling greens and sports turf where nematode numbers are just starting to develop or where there are seriously high numbers already present. Eagle Green Care is highly versatile and up to 6 applications per year can be applied. The product is very water soluble, and can be sprayed using a knapsack, or tractor mounted sprayer. Just to recap, the product is totally safe to the spray operator and end user but deadly to the target nematodes it is designed to control.”

ECOspray Ltd

Tel: +44 (0) 1760 756100

www.ecospray.com

STRI advises clients on both a project and retained basis. Its services range from designing, specifying and managing the construction and maintenance for new sports surfaces/venues through to ongoing monitoring, testing, maintenance and upgrading of existing surfaces. The research department offers a comprehensive testing and analysis service for all products and sports surfaces.

STRI’s clients include sports governing bodies, stadium architects and contractors, sports club owners and facilities managers, local authorities, schools and product suppliers and manufacturers.

An STRI team, led by director of operations Richard Hayden, was tasked by FIFA to ensure all 10 World Cup stadium pitches would meet the required standard in South Africa. As well as the stadium pitches themselves, STRI was also appointed by FIFA to prepare the 32 training camps and 12 venue specific training sites.

STRI was appointed with 100 days to go to the start of the World Cup and they worked tirelessly since to deliver world class pitches throughout the tournament.

Explaining how STRI were appointed by FIFA, Richard Hayden says: “I believe they chose STRI because of our solid reputation in the delivery of pitches, but more importantly our resource ability to place 10 highly experienced staff on the job with just a week’s notice.

“As well as our warm season grass experience, we have numerous other resources available which have been fully used in this project: an accredited soil laboratory and plant pathology laboratory to investigate issues regarding pitch construction or grass diseases; soil chemists to investigate any plant nutrition issues; and expertise in measuring the light levels and shade on stadia pitches to understand how environmental factors will affect grass growth and management. Nowhere else in the world has these resources at their disposal.”

The first task undertaken by STRI was to rebuild Mbombela’s pitch which involved removal and replacement of new rootzone, growing of new ryegrass sward, installation of Desso Grass Master and preparation of the pitch ready for use within a 60 day period.

Following this STRI was then tasked with overseeing the conversion of the warm season kikuyu pitches to ryegrass on either a total ryegrass or mixed-sward basis.

One major challenge STRI was faced with overcoming was the weather, with January and February being the wettest months on record for South Africa. In particular this hindered construction of the team base camp pitches.  Other issues included materials quality, sourcing the right equipment and implementing a comprehensive training programme within a short time period. Supervising 57 separate sites with a massive geographical spread was also an enormous challenge.

Richard comments: “In addition to providing consultancy advice for the 10 main stadia, we have also provided advice on each of the 32 team’s training base camps, many of which has more than one pitch. England, for example, had three at their camp in Rustenburg.

“Each stadium too has training pitches associated with it on which the teams can practice between arriving at the venue from their base camp and playing their match. So we have been working at 57 locations and on 100+ pitches. It has been a real team effort, working with local consultants, contractors and grounds staff.”

STRI has also ensured the FIFA World Cup stadia playing surfaces in South Africa are in safe hands for many years to come now that the world’s football stars have departed. Guidance to nearly 300 local consultants, contractors and groundstaff had been undertaken to maintain premium playing surfaces in future, including equipment procurement and logistical management.

Within its remit from FIFA to provide comprehensive training, STRI implemented a series of lectures and produced maintenance and management programme materials. An audit of mowing, aeration and manicuring machinery was undertaken to be procured by each municipality. In addition STRI provided advice and guidance as to the growing materials required, tailored for each venue.

Performance testing across all pitches and supervision of match preparation watering was also undertaken.

Commenting on the long term vision for the World Cup venues and training facilities, Richard Hayden said: “STRI’s brief from FIFA and the LOC was not only to deliver world class playing surfaces for the World Cup itself but to ensure the maintenance knowledge was in place locally to last well beyond 2010.

“Through the co-ordination of one-to-one and group training sessions, hosting lectures and distributing training materials I am confident that the local expertise is now in place to ensure the legacy of the World Cup in South Africa can extend to the playing surfaces and not merely the stadia and infrastructure itself.”

STRI

www.stri.co.uk

Problems still remain however once sowing has taken place as to whether the seed will germinate and establish to maturity. Weather conditions, physical or botanical conditions are all factors that can affect the established plant. Any way of assisting the germinated grass seed to establish quickly and provide a healthy, dense sward can only be of benefit to today’s groundsman.

Rigby Taylor, a major supplier to the amenity market, recognised the small time window for completing renovation work or to prepare a new sward and the need for rapid re-establishment of turf grass surfaces. Consequently they investigated the possibilities of overcoming such limitations. Backed up by three years of dedicated research involving Rigby Taylor’s seed breeding partner Top Green, a new seed coating has been developed and is now available to the turf manager.

This special ESP (Enhanced Seed Performance) seed coating is a liquid seed coating and is sprayed directly and uniformly onto the grass seed prior to packing. Being a liquid rather than a powder ensures each individual seed within the bag is equally and evenly coated. It also means that the weight of the bag is not affected, nor the number of seeds in the bag and there are no Health & Safety issues either in the packaging process or during handling by the turf manager on site.

A specially designed formulation of key plant health components that are beneficial to the development of grass seedlings is present in the ESP liquid coating and include:

Enhanced Root Developer: A special synergistic complex that improves root mass and length, increases auxin biosynthesis, encourages nutrient uptake and stimulates chlorophyll content.

Humic Acids: Stimulates plant enzymes and activity of soil micro-organisms. Promotes root respiration and the coating allows humic acids to be more readily absorbed by the seed through the pores.

Growth Promoting Hormones: These betaines, cytokinins and gibberellins help improve seed germination and establishment. These hormones combined with the simple plant sugars improve seed germination and establishment.

Amino-acids: Amino acids are the structural building blocks that make up proteins and are a vital part of all the plant’s physiological processes. Their presence in the coating improves the stress resistance of the seedlings to a range of conditions such as drought and cold. Their chelating properties enable nutrients to be more readily absorbed by leaves and shoots.

Micro-Nutrients: Essential for plant growth but are only required in very small quantities. The ESP coating contains many of these trace elements, all in a chelated form to ensure maximum plant uptake.

Although the research showed that ESP treated seed can germinate about 2 days earlier than untreated seed, the major benefits are more alongside the improved levels of establishment and overall health of the germinated turf plant. Results have shown an improved early establishment with a 20% increase in root mass. There are also a greater number of root hairs produced so not only reinforcing the foundation of the turf and increasing its strength and ability but also improving the plant’s ability to capture and utilise water and nutrients. The sward density and ground cover is also enhanced so reducing the time from renovation to use.  Leaf colour, thickness and overall plant health are also increased.

Tried and tested at Twickenham

At the famous Twickenham Stadium, Head Groundsman Keith Kent uses ESP treated Mascot R14 grass seed mixture to produce an even, dense sward. Seeding throughout the playing season, when weather permits, major remedial work is undertaken in June. Keith says: “I was late seeding in 2009 as we re-drained the pitch.  We did not seed until the 20th June but the take-up of grass seed with ESP R14 was absolutely amazing. This meant we were playing in August with good coverage and stability which is fantastic.”

Several mixtures are already benefiting from the ESP coating technology, and Rigby Taylor plans to extend the number of mixtures in their Mascot range available with this treatment.

For more information call Freephone 0800 424919 or visit www.rigbytaylor.com

Philip maintains that Chesterfield FC has always had strong links with the community and the new state of the art stadium will give the club the opportunity to provide extensive first class facilities for all. “The East stand will house a soft play area for the kids, a cafeteria and toilet and changing facilities including those for the disabled,” he continues. “I think that at the moment we’re the only sports club in Derbyshire to do this.” An endless swimming pool, gymnasium and education suites are in the pipeline for the future with possibly a community police station, and a wide range of facilities for other community groups. Meanwhile, in footballing terms everything hinges on the new pitch and the performance and quality of the football.

J Pugh-Lewis was given the pitch construction contract having maintained the old Saltergate ground for the last 10 to 15 years. Director James Pugh-Lewis, had been involved with the architects and designers for two years before the company arrived on site on the 1st. March. “Originally the start was delayed due to bad weather,” recalls Tim Pugh-Lewis who has overseen the whole project, “but we got going in the beginning of April and were seeding by 13th May.”

“The construction is a standard suspended water table pitch with, essentially, 100mm twinwall pipe drains at 5m centres, geotextile, 150mm depth gravel carpet and then 150mm depth of lower rootzone sand and 150mm depth upper rootzone, the top 100mm of this being Fibresand reinforced,” Tim explains. A fully automated irrigation system has been installed, and the pitch is graded into a ‘flat pyramid’ profile with the centre spot 300mm higher than the perimeter of the pitch. “The pitch is a similar specification to the one we installed at Birmingham City’s St Andrews Stadium last year and will make it one of the best pitches in the league,” Tim continues.

“It’s a very good pitch,” Philip Taylor confirms. “Because of the adverse weather at the start we were a week or two behind and people kept asking me if it would be ready in time. James Pugh-Lewis reassured us that it would and the company made up the time. The grass was growing one week after seeding and we knew we’d be ready for our first fixture, a friendly with Derby County on 24th. July.”

Philip thinks that the new facilities usher in a new era for Chesterfield FC and the way the season tickets were selling by the end of May - already up on the previous year - was a very positive sign. “Hopefully this season will see an increase in gate numbers and automatic promotion for the club,” he says. “We’ve now got car parking for over 350 cars, whereas before people had to park either in the town or the local school, and we’re hoping to become the premier banqueting and conference centre in the region. The new stadium stands to re-generate the whole area and provide so much more for both for football supporters and the local community.”

For further information contact J Pugh-Lewis on Tel: 01773 872362 or visit: www.pugh-lewis.co.uk

The initial task of stripping off the existing vegetation was expedited after Joe opted to upgrade the 2m Koro by Imants TopMaker he’d used for the past six years to a 2.5m machine with improved specification, offering time and efficiency savings. More blades and a wider belt enable it to have a greater forward speed, producing a faster, cleaner finish.

The pitches were heavily scarified with a 1.9m Omarv TER flail mower and collector beforehand to remove as much weedgrass and debris as possible before Joe and his staff completed two passes on each pitch with the Koro removing the top 10mm. Sheffield-based contractor Premier Pitches was then drafted in to apply 40 tonnes of sand with a Dakota 414 topdresser before running the Koro by Imants Recycling Dresser 1900 across the area, relieving layering and compaction, aerating vertically and horizontally and bringing an additional 40 tonnes of rootzone to the surface, where it was ameliorated with the sand and respread as a dressing. To complete the renovation, they sowed a high quality ryegrass seed mixture, carrying out six passes with the Vredo disc seeder then additional passes with a Raycam Aeraseeder.

“Once the grass was fully established six weeks after sowing, we went over the pitches with the verticore using solid tines to relieve surface compaction and oxygenate the top layer. The results have been outstanding” Joe confirmed. “The pitches are level, decompacted and aerated throughout the profile and the new sward established well. Five weeks after the work began, the pitches are playable. It’s definitely the best results we’ve had from our renovations.”

“In previous years, we’ve only used vertical aeration as part of the renovation programme. This was the first time I’ve ever used the Recycling Dresser. It suited our construction and I was incredibly impressed. To be able to aerate the full profile and ameliorate the rootzone with the sand in one pass without disturbing surface levels is extremely beneficial.”

“It’s becoming increasingly important for us to own rather than hire specialist machinery as we need to have the flexibility to work on our pitches when training schedules and weather conditions allow. The renovation programme was carried out in stages and one pitch had to be kept available throughout the renovation period in case any of the coaching staff or players wanted to use it, so we needed to complete each stage quickly and efficiently. We began work on the academy and reserve team pitches on the 12th April, then the first team pitches were completed once the Premiership season had concluded. The youth section was last to be renovated at the end of May.”

“In the past year we’ve acquired three New Holland tractors and the Koro which enabled us to carry out a proportion of the renovations ourselves. Having seen the results, we’ll be looking to invest in several other pieces of specialist machinery over the coming months. Being a local company, Campeys provide us with on-demand technical assistance and rapid access to parts and service with all our machinery, which is invaluable.”

Visit the new website at www.campeyturfcare.com for more information.