Extensive renovation
When West Ham United purchased its Little Heath Academy training ground in 2001 it was obvious to Head Groundsman Doug Robertson that an extensive pitch renovation programme was required. His wish has now come true thanks to Essex based sportsfield contractors Grassform Ltd., who have completed a wide-ranging project consisting of pitch surface levelling, land drainage, re-seeding and other tasks. The site, now complete, hosts youth football for the West Ham United academy youngsters ranging in age from seven to eighteen, over an average of four games per week.
Complete drainage system
Grassform’s team consulted with Doug Robertson to design a football pitch renovation scheme that would ensure Little Heath was playable during even the harshest of weathers, and set to work on the project in May 2006 using a Koro Field Topmaker to remove the original grass and upper topsoil structures. Over the four hectare (ten acre) site, which consists of two full size pitches, one three quarter size pitch, two sixty by forty metre pitches and various grid training areas, Grassform installed a primary land drainage system across its entirety with a secondary system on the two full size pitches. Within three months the players were back training for pre-season in late July 2006. In May 2007 work began on secondary drainage on the remaining areas to fulfil the project design requirements. The extent of works included a very heavy dressing of sand across the site to ensure a flat and level surface, plus Grassform also formed and shaped banks around the site using excavated soil to boost security.
Client Testimonial
Doug Robertson, who has been with West Ham United for eleven years since joining from the Scottish RFU at Murrayfield, has nothing but praise for the quality and expertise shown by Grassform. “I am very happy with the professionalism shown by Grassform. For a company that we had not used previously we have found them to be very courteous to any extra tasks not in their original remit, such as forming and shaping the banks at Little Heath. I found that the foreman was able to make on the spot decisions and hence the project was completed ahead of schedule with pitches ready for our pre-season training needs.” Doug continues in saying, “the company is communicative and flexible enough to encourage input from us as the client, meaning that the finished result was exact to our requirements. “I would have no hesitation in recommending Grassform to other clubs and facilities, and in fact I already have done so” he concludes.
www.grassform.co.uk
