Pitch Perfect At Cambridge United With RPR
After 35 years of looking after the pitch for Cambridge United head groundsman and stadium manager Ian Darler thinks he has got it in the best condition ever, thanks to Barenbrug’s sports grass seed!
Ian looks after the pitch on his own, relying on the help of volunteers who work long hours after fixtures, staying until around midnight after evening games.
Ian Darler at work on the Cambridge United pitch.
Being outside the Football League means budgets are tight yet the ground still hosts around 65 matches a year, together with corporate and community events. Changing weather patterns are also a problem for Ian, the past winter was very wet and he does not have the benefit of pitch covers.
Yet despite all this he has been the Football Conference’s Groundsman of the Year four times in the last ten years and received a further two commendations.
Although faced with limited budgets one thing Ian will not compromise on is using top quality grass seed. “When I won the last Groundsman of the Year I am pretty certain that using Barenbrug’s BAR 50 SOS played a big part. I had a couple of worn areas and was very impressed by the rapid establishment of the seed at very low temperatures.”
BAR 50 SOS is a ryegrass blend providing superior germination and establishment in very cool soil temperatures down to 3.5C for year round sward cover.
Recently Ian has started to use the revolutionary new mix of BAR 7 RPR suggested by Stewart Jeffs from Collier Turf Care.
Key to the success of RPR is it produces determinate stolons. These differ from typical stolons in that they have an end point – a terminal – and will produce a flower and reproduce sexually if allowed to. Normally, perennial ryegrasses exhibit a purely tufted growth habit, with limited lateral growth only possible from standard tillers.
The stolons deliver clear benefits in terms of sward strength, surface traction, drought tolerance and nutrient uptake – resulting in fast establishment, excellent wear tolerance, a dense sward and impressive wear recovery.
“I knew RPR had worked well at other clubs so decided to go with it,” said Ian. “It established very quickly following renovation and has proven to be very hard wearing under challenging conditions and hard usage.
“I have had a reduced rate of disease to other years even after the wettest winter on record and one of the mildest. The playing surface has remained stable throughout the season and we have not had to call off a single match.
“RPR has simply been outstanding and not just in my view; every match official who has come here this season has been very complimentary about the surface as have visiting teams.”
So what advice would Ian give to groundsmen at similar clubs?
“If you buy six bags of cheap grass seed it will be cheap for a very good reason. You need to look at its quality and performance and use a seed mix that has the staying power to deliver under very heavy pitch usage. You might end up paying a little more but the end result will be well worth it.”
Ian is just about to embark on his close season maintenance regime which will see him scarifying the surface in three directions, hollow core at two inches centres. Then open up the surface with a Blec groundbreaker and drop the back legs into the ground to provide mini shallow sand bands then overseeded with BAR 7 RPR followed by 60 tonnes of quality sand.