Module 1:

Module summary

Identifying what is expected from a pitch helps the groundskeeper to determine what is currently achievable and what additional requirements, if any, might be needed to meet expectations.

Purposeful observation of your surroundings helps you to identify a range of features that are present.

Where this is done on a football pitch, the features can be used to describe that pitch in a lot of detail.

Some of the features of a football pitch will be clearly visible, whilst others will often be less visible and sometimes hidden from view.

Observing visible and less visible features for a motor vehicle provided the foundation for applying the same principles to that of a football pitch.

Walking a pitch provides a groundskeeper with first-hand experience and knowledge of the features and conditions for that pitch.

Recording findings against defined features provides a groundskeeper with valuable data which can be used to provide feedback on the effectiveness of maintenance activities as well as the extent and type of usage that has taken place on the pitch.

This module has identified and briefly described 26 features of a football pitch, which can be further developed into objective performance standards.

The next module (Module 2) selects 12 of these features, which can be more easily measured and used for assessing pitch quality.

You may already be using some of these as performance standards, but if not, the ones that have been selected for some more detailed explanations can be easily implemented to help you better manage a pitch.

By better, we mean more effectively and efficiently, helping to reduce waste and to produce a pitch that is more fit for purpose for your (as well as the management team’s or provider’s) specific requirements.

We will also be adding a range of values to these features to demonstrate how performance standards can be used to distinguish between different grades of pitch quality.