Sustainability for the future
Simon Gibson, Head of Grounds at Leicester City Football Club, talks us through the importance of sustainability for the future of sports turf.
After winning the Environment and Sustainability Grounds Management Association Award back in 2023, Simon reflected that sustainability had been a focus behind the scenes for quite some time at Leicester, however, now is the time for implementation. “We have used background research to put projects in place as we look into what’s next for our department. We work in an industry that can make a significant impact in this area and it’s all our responsibility to be proactive.”
He described some of the sustainability projects that have been implemented at the club in recent years: “Due to its age, the stadium pitch needed a full reconstruction and we had to be as future proof as possible. We opted for a water reclaim system that enables us to reuse any water that goes on to the pitch, having been through a UV filter, we also run a UVC machine to reduce fungicide applications.” He then discussed the training ground: “At Seagrave, there are lots of sustainable areas including a kitchen garden that produces vegetables directly for the first team, beehives in which the honey is used for our performance chefs to make flapjacks, and the management of existing and newly planted woodlands. In addition, sensitive aquatic habitats, bat and bird boxes have been built in part by the help of local school children, so there is a community theme to the site.”
When asked about what the club are up to at the moment, he said: “We have started looking into composting at Seagrave and how we can explore and improve ways of upscaling the kitchen garden and increasing community involvement. Our landscape team are shadowing ecologists when they are on site, so it is a great learning experience for them.”
Simon recently took up the mantle of Head of Grounds and he explained how this has affected his day-to-day role: “I was part of a particularly good senior management team, who have guided our department for nearly ten years. The step up would have felt far greater if it wasn’t for great preparation from John Ledwidge, and Callum Allsop moving up to Deputy Head has also made the transition easier whilst keeping the continuity in the department. ‘Pressure is a privilege’ and that is certainly the case heading up a high-performing team spread over multiple sites. Due to the nature of the role, we have a significant impact on the environmental and sustainability side of the club. Being on the task force helps to be able to tell the story across the club about what we are already doing and what we have coming in the future.”
“Here at Leicester, we have an environment and sustainability task force whose aim is not only to guide the club through its sustainability targets, but to also raise awareness of all the things that we have been doing recently within the club. There are a lot of marginal gains in this area by doing lots of small things which, when added together, make a big impact. Such as turning lights and monitors off every day, increased use of the electric mower fleet across all our sites, or our LCFC in the community team who do great work in schools and bring classes into our STA to work on projects.”
Simon highlighted the importance of the club helping to boost grassroots sport within Leicestershire: “When we had the pitch re-surfaced at the King Power stadium, much of the rootzone was given to local grassroots teams to help with their renovations - this is great that we can be having another form of impact into local grassroots football alongside the current Sports Turf Academy (STA) work. Some was also used in part to build our trial plots at Seagrave on which the STA can conduct some of their research pieces. We also distributed the artificial track to local teams and grassroots whilst the undersoil pipe work was sent for recycling.”
GMA Award
How did it feel to win the Award?
It was a massive achievement for us as a club; it is one of the building blocks of our Seagrave training facility which is in a countryside environment and had to blend into the surroundings. This is especially important at the site where we had to make as minimal impact as possible and integrate into those local surroundings.
Simon’s story
I started 25 years ago when I finished university and started looking for a job to get me through the summer. There was a groundsperson opportunity at Leicester and I have worked at both Filbert Street and King Power Stadium as well as Belvoir Drive and now Seagrave. The longer I stayed the more I enjoyed it; being outside all day, seeing the impact of the work that we do gives you an immense sense of pride. It is also fantastic to be involved in professional football, where so much goes on in the background. So many people play a part in the whole operation to make matchdays happen and to get training sessions on where everyone is looking for their 0.1% improvement.