The crest of a wave at Aston Villa FC
The past few months saw Villa securing UEFA Champions League qualification and Karl Prescott and his team scoop the Premier League Grounds Team of the Season for 2023/24. Kerry Haywood finds out more…
When you’re an avid Wolves supporter, it feels somewhat strange to visit a rival ground, however Head Grounds Manager Karl Prescott immediately made me feel welcome when I arrived at Villa Park.
It was obvious through the impressive, glazed boxes that renovations were well underway and we sat down with a coffee where Karl told me: “Even though we are in the middle of renovations, where we will also play host to a Foo Fighters concert, I enjoy this break in the season. We have really good contractors who know what they are doing and that all takes the stress off. If it rains this afternoon, I don’t have to worry, whereas usually I’m always thinking of feeding programmes, granular liquids in between games and trying to be 3-4 weeks ahead of yourself – which can be stressful.”
Getting the foundations correct are key to a good season and the current renovations are going to plan. Karl continued: “A full Hunter sprinkler system has been added to the pitch edge, and currently Hewitt Sportsturf have scratched the surface of the pitch and will ensure all the levels are correct, and there are no black layers, before applying 90 tonnes of topdressing and add 90/10 mix to a few areas.”
“It feels like it’s been a long season with a packed schedule and recruitment issues, but when I speak to other industry people, I don’t think we are alone… everyone is struggling to find skilled staff. I don’t need somebody to come here and produce a day-to-day planner, I just need someone who is willing to work hard and apply themselves to the job.”
Having said that, Karl is realistic about the demands on new recruits: “That beautiful striped pitch doesn’t just happen and sometimes 14–16 hour shifts are required. Understanding the science behind what we do to produce a top-quality surface is not only an advantage, but also helps a person’s development and provides opportunities and, as an industry, we have to shout about the positives. I understand the difficulty in that though as I don’t like to brag on social media; I just let the pitch do the talking!”
The award process
“We have received so many positive comments this season about the pitch and its performance and that is the only gratitude I need. Winning the award was the icing on the cake, and the process involved also gives us valuable knowledge and scores throughout the season.”
The Grounds Team of the Season Award is determined by a number of factors, including amount of usage, environmental conditions, assessment of resources and management, marks given by the referees and match delegates at each fixture. All these marks go into a pot and the top five are picked out.
The pitch was commended for its exceptional quality throughout the season, despite a high number of women’s and European fixtures as well as the 19 Premier League matches. In addition, the grounds team scored highly for innovation and sustainability, having reduced their use of fungicides and adapted machinery to perform bespoke tasks.
Karl continued: “At the end of April, a representative from STRI conducts a pitch-quality inspection and we go through every aspect of maintenance and structure; how many staff we have, how many games we’ve played including training sessions, feeding programmes/NPK input, how many fungicides have been used, machinery used etc. All the scores are added together for consideration before they decide the winning team. The award means a great deal to all of us and, going into next season, it offers interesting and exciting times ahead.”
Champions League
“Being part of the Champions League (the first time since 1983) will bring more camera crews as well as prestigious clubs such as Real Madrid, which is exciting. Investment in the club is massive which includes stadium development, training ground upgrades, new office space etc. I try not to remember it, but coming from relegations back in 2015 to where we are now is phenomenal. We’ve had two really good seasons which have taken the club to the next level and we need to ride the crest of the wave to see how long we can stay there.”
The foundations are in place to achieve just that as the current surface was a full reconstruction back in 2018. Everything came out and new undersoil heating pipes, irrigation and surrounds were added. Karl commented: “Although I had done many renovations across my career, that was my first involvement in pitch reconstruction. We had about six weeks to grow the pitch in again, but it was an unknown period and an eye opener. We had to figure out feeding programmes again because you’re back to basics and trying to build up soil biology and everything else. You know what worked on the old pitch, but that doesn’t mean it will work on the new one and fertiliser inputs can completely change.”
“Even with the old pitch I tried quite a few different products to find out what actually worked… everything looks good on the tin, doesn’t it! But I was trying to find out, you know, the sort of playing response to different seaweeds and things like that. I really enjoyed that, right down to exploring how much magnesium or calcium is in a product as well as the trace elements, which can make a huge difference. Each environment and soil profile is different; we have West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City up the road, but they can react totally different to what we have here.”
“I would go as far to say that last season was the best pitch we have ever produced, and everything just seemed to click – so I’m hoping we can continue that success. It’s hard to attribute it to one thing, but the Primo programme supplied by Agrovista Amenity rep Mark Allen worked a treat and we stuck with that throughout the whole season.”
“In my opinion. another key factor was the SGL UV machine. I think that’s a big part of our armoury and helped massively in lowering the use of fungicides (two were used throughout last season), and the NPK input has also reduced drastically. From growing in, as soon as we see growth, the machine is out. This was our second season using the new lighting rigs and we have a much better understanding of how they work to get the most benefit and not overcooking the surface.”
Machinery investments
Over the past four/five years, there has been a lot of investment in battery operated machines for the club and Karl commented: “The club have really helped to upgrade the grounds department machinery so, as well as our trusty Dennis Premier’s, we now have 4 x Dennis ES-860s with various attachments, Allett electric rotaries, 6 x LED440 SGL rigs, 6 x LED120 and a couple of smaller BU10s.”
“We used to use petrol mowers, however, pressure from camera crews to reduce noise for after match interviews has increased dramatically. Without the use of electric machines, my team wouldn’t be able to start until much later – making an already long day even longer. The transition to electric has been another great thing for the environment and the award scores, and even our Team sprayer is now electric.”
The dream team
Looking after the stadium with Karl is Assistant Head Groundsperson Ian Hipkiss and Groundsperson Matt Jones. Karl is hoping to employ another full-time person before the start of the season, and also has a ‘good as gold’ team of match day staff (Keith Smith, Dave Collins, Eddie Mills, Harry Rooke and Dylan Stokes). “The match day team are willing to help day or night whenever they are needed,” states Karl. “They all have a passion for the club, but also a desire for the industry which translates into their work and helps greatly with things like clearing the pitch, cutting, moving lighting rigs etc).” It shocked me to hear that it takes approximately six hours to bring all the lights in from where they stored at the back of the club shop, which is the only access point.
I’m sure with the dedication of the team, along with the stadium developments and investment, it wouldn’t surprise me if the awards continue to roll in next season!
From left to right: Dylan Stokes, Dave Collins, Keith Smith, Karl Prescott, Ian Hipkiss, Matt Jones and Eddie Mills
Career path
Karl explains: “I came straight out of school and started at Lilleshall National Sports Centre where I completed all my college courses before moving to a local school in Telford. I was there about 12-14 months, but I found the environment difficult. It’s something I wanted to try, and I learned most things at the school because of all the different aspects of sport such as rugby, cricket, tennis etc. and numerous techniques across that time.
It was a good introduction, before the opportunity arose here in 2001 to join the team at the training ground. At that time, there were only three of us and we had 3 full size pitches and 1 astroturf. Now, there are 9 grass pitches and 3 synthetics with a team of 10, and the facilities are improving and growing all the time. In 2008, an opportunity to move to the stadium under Johnathan Calderwood was something I jumped at, before taking on the Head position in 2016… and I’ve not looked back since – because I haven’t had time,” he jokes.