Deserved winner of the 2019 Top Influencer Award
It seems fitting the 2019 Top Turf Influencer Award should go to Steve Braddock, perhaps the industry’s most respected grounds professional of his generation.
Steve began his working life as assistant groundsman at the Royal Veterinary College – but a chance meeting with former Arsenal manager George Graham opened up the opportunity of a dream job overseeing the pitch at Highbury in the 1980’s.
Richard Campey says: “Steve was self taught and very much his own man. When he got the job at Highbury the first thing he did was put sand in a watering can, and then fill every hole on the pitch manually. He would rarely take advice but work things out himself.
He was also responsible for passing on his knowledge and training people who then went on to land some top jobs. He’s always had impeccable standards, and there’s no doubt he’s the daddy of all groundsmen. In short – a brilliant man whose been an inspiration across the industry.”
Steve is also a a brilliant people manager even leading the way in mental health matters – he’s been feted by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, and a whole host of other top managers. In fact, he was even quietly responsible for relaxing a
young Ray Parlour before he took his driving test. Driving a tractor up and down Highbury was all it took.
There’s little doubt the greatest tribute to Steve Braddock has been paid by the enigmatic Paul Burgess at Real Madrid – Steve was his mentor of course, and it’s a relationship still going strong today. He said: “Steve Braddock was actually my inspiration for getting into the industry, as a 14 year old footy mad kid I read an article on him in a football magazine; this was my motivation to pursue a career as a football groundsman.
At the age of 18 I had the surreal experience of being interviewed by the man himself, an interview which led to me being his assistant at Highbury, we where just two people back then as we had no training ground to maintain.
He would have me working crazy long hours, his attention to detail was amazing and his ability to foresee problems before they occurred was amazing – like a sixth sense. As well as the well documented traits, his real success was how he renovated pitches – he was basically koroing off pitches before the Koro was built! This would be a process which took weeks rather than hours like now, using machines designed for different purposes, adapting them, a lot of the time abusing them, taking them well beyond their design limitations.
All the head groundsman would be on the beach following a light scarify and seeding, not Steve – we would be five in the morning to ten at night, seven days a week for a month – proper full on. We would dig up the goal areas trying to find a really stable soil mix, working with the rootzone, like a cricket groundsman. We would then vertidrain and painstakingly fill the holes up with kiln dried sand in a watering can, the rest of the pitch we would fill up every hole with kiln dried sand and sweeping brushes.
By week three I would be cursing him thinking why couldn’t I work at another club and be on holiday. The reason the pitch was miles ahead of other pitches back then wasn’t about budgets, it was complete and utter dedication, pioneering ideas and constantly thinking out of the box. As a boss he was amazing, more like my Dad than a boss. He gave me without doubt the best education I could have wished for, and gave me an unbelievable platform to shape my career the way I have. I like to think all the values he gave me I have taken on, and taken things to the next level.
Steve is a guy I can call when I have a doubt or a problem, a true friend, loyal, dedicated, driven, forward-thinking, passionate and way ahead of his time. Steve will go down as the best football groundsman of his generation and a man that has had a big say in the next generation, respected by everyone, feared by some, loved by many.
The word ‘legend’ is used far too often but without doubt this is a man that really is a true legend of the turf industry, groundsmanship and professional football. I’m forever grateful and he is my inspiration to do what I do.”
As for life at The Arsenal training facilities Steve told the Official Arsenal website: “We have created the right kind of culture here, nurturing some top-quality pitches and, along with them, some world-class groundsmen. Their progress sets an example for all of our groundstaff to follow. On a typical day at the training ground, I’ll have a walk around the pitches at 6.45am to see how things are looking. My deputies and I then go through our tasks for the day, and the rest of the staff begin at 8am. Everyone mucks in – I’m a firm believer that you should never give one of your staff a task that you wouldn’t undertake yourself. My best memory was probably winning Groundsman of the Year and having a presentation on the pitch when the club gave me the cannon.”
It’s certain there won’t be a single person working in or associated with this great industry who won’t be thrilled for our winner. Steve Braddock – we salute you and all you stand for.
To read the full story in the digital issue of Turf Business click here