League Groundsman of the year 2012

The winners Groundsman of the Year Awards 2012 have been announced with Middlesbrough, Carlisle United and Cheltenham Town taking the divisional titles.

Tony Bell of Play-Off chasing Middlesbrough has been named the best groundsman in the Championship. His counterparts Paul Bradshaw at Burnley and Ed Mowe at Leicester City were highly commended.

Carlisle United's David Mitchell picked up the League 1 award for the second year running whilst David Brown and Phil Collinson received commendations for the surfaces at Hartlepool United and Rochdale respectively.

In League 2, Terry Roberts of Cheltenham Town picked up the title with Simon Marshall (Burton Albion) and David Radmore (Plymouth Argyle) highly commended.

npower Championship
Winner - Tony Bell - Middlesbrough
Highly Commended - Paul Bradshaw - Burnley
Highly Commended - Ed Mowe - Leicester City

npower League 1
Winner - David Mitchell - Carlisle United
Highly Commended - David Brown - Hartlepool United
Highly Commended - Phil Collinson - Rochdale

npower League 2
Winner - Terry Roberts - Cheltenham Town
Highly Commended - Simon Marshall - Burton Albion
Highly Commended - David Radmore - Plymouth Argyle

Handed out by the Playing Surfaces Committee, the Groundsman of the Year awards is designed to recognise the importance of the quality of pitches and to acknowledge Head Groundsmen and their staff.

The awards are determined initially using marks from Referees and away Managers for each game, and are then followed by detailed pitch inspections and a review of management operations. These visits were carried out in late March and early April by Dr Stephen Baker, Head of Soils and Sports Surface Science at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI).

Article sourced from Football League.co.uk