The FA National Football Centre, St. George’s Park in Staffordshire was formally opened on 9 October, by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.  Head Groundsman Alan Ferguson has worked flat out to get 12 pitches to a peak level of perfection with his 13 staff. Set in National Forest, the site covers 330 acres - including two hotels, a sports science facility and FA offices. The 12 pitches include 10 natural and two synthetic pitches (the synthetic indoor facility is the largest in the UK)

Alan, formerly Head Groundsman of Ipswich Town FC, has masterminded the three stages of development - construction, operational and completion.  “It has been an enormous project to co-ordinate all of the grass areas as well as the utilities, floodlighting and irrigation but we have come through the construction side and are now in the operational phase,” says Alan.

St. Georges Park is unique in that it offers four different pitch profiles; a Desso GrassMaster, plus four fibre sand, five natural turf and two 3G synthetic surfaces. To make the project run smoothly Alan targeted specific companies and suppliers to work with. These companies were chosen for reliability, back-up support and expertise.

Campey Turf Care Systems is one of these companies and has worked closely with Alan throughout the construction and renovation of the pitches. “Campeys are the ideal turf renovation partner,” says Alan. “They have a huge and diverse range of equipment and they have the necessary expertise to give the right advice.”

“There will be no luxury of a closed season for extensive renovations,” says Alan. “We intend to keep a pitch free at all times in order to rotate use to allow for regular mini-renovations. But that still leaves a combined total in the region of 150-160 hours of play a week across the park. To take a pitch out for 10 weeks will be a rare occurrence for the foreseeable future.”

Richard Campey is very aware of the constraints placed on Alan and is delighted to be working with him on such a prominent and highly influential venture. “We provided several pieces of kit for Alan to trial before purchasing, so he could see exactly how the machines worked,” says Richard. “The Imants Shockwave, Coremaster Xtreme, Koro Recycling Dresser and Koro Field Top Maker are all excellent at achieving good results quickly, with the minimum of down time. “