A range of SISIS synthetic turf maintenance equipment is helping to keep the ‘Wembley of South Wales’ in excellent condition.  

Merthyr Town FC is a non-league team from South Wales. It is a 100% fan owned community club that play in the Southern League Premier Division at its historical home of The MET Coaches Stadium at Penydarren Park, right in the heart of the Merthyr Tydfil Community. 

The club has had its ups and downs over the years, but the installation of a synthetic pitch has helped turn fortunes around, as Merthyr man Julian Axhorn explains.    

“Part of the improvement plan was to have a new synthetic pitch,” he said. “Previously, in winter the grass would disappear, and we couldn’t use the pitch. Now we can use it all year round and it also creates a vital revenue stream. We wanted to make it a community asset, and now everyone uses it – they love it, and I love it. I call it the Wembley of South Wales.” 

Julian is known as the Merthyr man for good reason – not only does he maintain the pitch, but he is on the board as the Treasurer, works on the turnstiles, and helps with numerous other tasks on a matchday. Therefore, when it comes to his own little slice of Wembley – he wants only the best.  

“The pitch was replaced with a new surface a year ago and I thought the time was right to invest in new equipment,” he said. “We had a very old tractor with a little brush on the back and it was very slow and antiquated. We wanted an improvement and after doing some research we identified the SISIS Brush-Pro and the SISIS SSS1000 as the ideal equipment.” 

Specially designed for synthetic surfaces, the Brush-Pro is a ride-on brushing system consisting of a pair of mid mounted oscillating brush units and three rear mounted brushes. The oscillating brushes are ideal for periodic aggressive brushing to keep infill mobile, prevent algae accumulation, surface compaction and loss of porosity.  

Equally impressive is the SISIS SSS1000 – a tractor mounted sweeper that can be pulled by any machine. The rotary brush has been designed for use on synthetic surfaces to remove surface debris, lift the carpet pile and redistribute sand or rubber crumb infill giving the surface maximum performance and extended life.  

Julian explained how the two SISIS machines play a part in his maintenance programme.  

“After every twenty hours of use we carry out one hour of maintenance, and this pitch is always in use,” he said. “Typically, we try and stick to a cycle, so one week we will do the brushing; the following week we will use the oscillating brushes, and then the next week we will do the sweeping with the SSS1000.  

“These two machines keep the pitch in great condition, they help to move the crumb around the surface and the sweeper picks up all the debris.  

“I’m not very technically minded but the Brush-Pro is easy to operate, it is comfortable to sit on and easy to maintain, it is easy to set-up, and it does the job that it is there to do. I just can’t fault the equipment. They also fit nicely in the garage and save space which is an added benefit.” 

Julian revealed that some funding issues initially delayed the purchase of the equipment, however he thanked the SISIS team for their understanding.  

“The funding wasn’t quite in place, so SISIS kindly supplied us with a demonstration model to use until it was all sorted. I knew I had made the right decision because you can’t beat that for customer service. 

“You really do get the full package from SISIS.” 

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