So here they are – the top five most influential figures in the turf care industry – as voted by you….

Fifth place – Keith Kent

Keith Kent may be best known for taking care of the pitch at Twickenham Stadium, but his commitment to pitch care encompasses more than preparing grounds for tournaments such as the Six Nations. As part of the RFU’s Groundsmen Connected initiative, Keith visits roughly 100 community rugby clubs per season around the country. During these free visits, he offers groundsmen help, guidance and advice regarding natural pitch maintenance. Lasting roughly one hour, the pitch visits are followed up by a detailed report that gives the club groundsmen some tangible tips that can be implemented.

Fourth place – Jason Booth

Jason Booth rose to prominence as the long-time Head Groundsman at Headingley Carnegie, preparing the pitch for the Leeds Rhinos. He left this position in February 2014 to take up his role as Director of the Grounds and Natural Turf Improvement Programme with the IOG. This programme has been jointly funded by the The FA, The ECB, The RFL, Sport England and the IOG, and encompasses having regional pitch advisers in place to help groundsmen at all levels to better pitches in a range of facilities. Jason spends his weeks travelling the length and breadth of the country to oversee the delivery of this programme, all whilst liaising with trade and national press to improve the profile of professional groundsmanship.

Third place – Richard Campey

Richard Campey founded Campey Turf Care Systems in 1986, and ever since, the business has developed into a leading distributor in the UK. It has grown in both size and scale, and this year celebrated 30 years of success. In fact, under Richard’s direction, Campey Turf Care Systems has evolved into Europe’s largest independent grounds care machinery dealer. Richard is regularly spotted at product launches and roadshows, unafraid to still don the overalls and muck in with machinery demos! He is widely regarded as a driving developer in technology and engineering, and is often touted as an industry innovator – it’s perhaps little wonder then that Richard remains a top Influencer.

Second place – John Ledwidge

As Leicester City’s dream season took place last year, the eyes of the Premier League and indeed the world turned to King Power Stadium on more than one occasion. Responsible for preparing the pitch was John Ledwidge, now faced with a higher level of intense media scrutiny than ever before. John manages a team of nine staff, along with the day-to-day maintenance of nine natural and reinforced pitches. John was already known in the industry for his experience carrying out pitch preparation for major international events such as the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games (where he prepared the pitch at Ricoh Arena) along with concerts at the stadium (acts such as Kasabian, Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen have graced the stage), but arguably he really made a mark last season with the introduction of patterns on the pitch.

The Foxes may have been the centre of attention, but the club’s elaborate pitch patterns were not far behind. It wasn’t long before patterns appeared on the pitch at Wembely, and in a poll run by The Mirror, 66 per cent of respondents voted that Ledwidge ought to receive a Knighthood for his efforts. The patterns continued throughout the year, most recently when Ledwidge and his team created a poppy on the pitch that was brushed into the grass by hand for Remembrance Day.

TOP SPOT – PAUL BURGESS

No stranger to the press this year is Paul Burgess, Head Groundsman at Real Madrid CF Fresh off his win as Spanish Groundsman of the Year, an honour awarded by La Asociacion Espanola De GreenKeepers, Paul made an impact on the industry this year as he upped his media profile. He first made waves with comments made to Turf Business in May about the state of the industry as a whole, and these continued to spark debate even at SALTEX later this year. Paul took up his position with Real Madrid CF in 2009 following a long and prosperous career with Arsenal. At the time of writing, Real Madrid CF have just become Club World Cup Champions, and Paul works hard to not only ensure the team’s main playing surface at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is kept in tip top condition, but also that the practice pitches at their world-class training facility remain perfect as well.

It’s commitment like this that has seen Paul named Premier League Groundsman of the Year three times, and his pitches remain in solid condition even in tough geographical conditions. Paul has also worked as a UEFA pitch consultant, and this year took his team on a tour of the UK to visit facilities and educate his staff about managing pitches against Britain’s decidedly wetter weather conditions! Later in the year Paul undertook a grand tour of Scotland with Simon Gumbrill of Stadium Grow Lighting, Mark Farrell from Morton FC, Campey’s Richard Heywood and Steve Braddock from Arsenal. The tour took in too many clubs to mention and the purpose was to share knowledge both ways…..

According to Paul, there is very much a focus on going to other facilities to share knowledge, and he aims to visit a number of Premier League Clubs as well as smaller venues. During his Scottish trip, for example, he looked at what clubs could achieve with little to no budget, thinking out of the box to tackle common issues all while taking into account sustainability and the environment. This, combined with the number of visitors hosted from the UK and around the world alongside his large twitter following has culminated in Paul taking the top spot this year.