Spurs’ Grounds Manager Darren Baldwin received the Turf Business Outstanding Achievement Award, sponsored by Charterhouse, in recognition of his outstanding efforts to ensure that the Barclays Asia Trophy pre-season fixtures in Hong Kong went ahead despite terrible pitch conditions.

Turf Business Publisher Martin Smart, André Villas-Boas, Darren Baldwin and Nick Darking of sponsors Charterhouse.

Tottenham manager André Villas-Boas says he fully deserves the award for his work in Hong Kong. “He deserves massive credit for allowing the tournament to continue,” he said. “The tournament only went ahead because our groundsman did great work for the Premier League.”

Martin Smart, Publisher of Turf Business, commented: “Darren did a marvellous job in Hong Kong under near impossible conditions and fully deserves this award for demonstrating the excellence of British groundsmanship to a global audience.”

A full report will appear in the November issue of Turf Business – printed Magazine, digital Turnpage format and App.