Planning for perfection: inside the minds of a football grounds team

In an era where contractor companies are increasingly taking charge of multiple venues, the art of managing pitches across different stadiums requires foresight, flexibility and teamwork.

When most fans spill out of the stadium after the final whistle, the GreenBay Grounds Maintenance team is already thinking ahead - to the next match, the next month and sometimes the next season.

For Paul Knowles and Brett Sulkhen, caring for a football pitch isn’t simply maintenance. It’s a long game of foresight, precision and collaboration.

The season starts long before kick-off

“You always have that feeling in January about how the pitch will be at the end of the season,” says Paul Knowles. For GreenBay, end-of-season renovations begin months before anyone is ready to talk about the final match.

At Northampton, last year’s renovation meant lightly stripping the top of the fifteen-year-old fibre-sand pitch and installing secondary drainage - work that doesn’t make headlines but determines the pitch’s health for years to come.

“Those foundations need to be put in at the start. If you don’t, it’s a nightmare,” Paul says.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Brett Sulkhen. “By November and December, the hard work from the summer needs to shine through,” he adds. Paul agrees: “Once the season starts, my target is always to get to Christmas. If you get to that point and still have good grass coverage, you’re doing well and can get through the winter.”

The battle with the elements

Even the best planning can’t control the weather. This year, a stubborn summer drought pushed the team to the limits.

“The main problem we had was the dry weather during the summer months,” Paul explains. “We had to be hand-watering constantly to get the pitch going. The hardest part was keeping it alive.”

For GreenBay, success isn’t measured only by how the pitch looks on matchday - it’s measured by how well it endures. Summer heat, winter frost, relentless fixtures: every season brings its own test.

No two stadiums are ever the same

With responsibility for several venues, GreenBay adapts constantly.

“Even though we manage Northampton and Peterborough fairly similarly, it is night and day in some respects,” Paul says. “Sixfields at Northampton is a fibre-sand pitch, about fifteen years old. Peterborough United is a carpet, and much more enclosed. Every stadium brings different challenges and management techniques.”

Budgets vary too. Each site runs on a fixed pot for essentials such as fertiliser, line paint and aeration, while renovation plans shift year to year. Increasingly, data helps bridge the gap.

“Data-driven grounds management is now essential to justify decisions and ensure transparency,” Paul notes.

Left: Paul Knowles, right Brett Sulkhen

Communication, clarity and the human side of turf care

Transparency sits at the heart of GreenBay’s approach. “We aim for three-year rolling contracts with clients to maintain flexibility and honesty,” Paul explains. “I always try to keep good communication with the clubs. I’ll advise realistic approaches based on the budget, because I want to be honest with them.”

Brett stresses the importance of detailed, ongoing records: “You want to be able to show the CEO or manager why you’ve done the work.

Transparency helps avoid misunderstandings and keeps everyone aligned.”

But beyond the spreadsheets and soil samples, successful pitch management comes down to people.

“You’re not just managing pitches; you’re managing relationships with staff and clubs,” Paul says. “The coaches, the board, the players, the head groundsman - they’re all important to keep things moving.”

It’s a dynamic made richer by Brett’s past as a player. “Paul has thirty years of experience in grounds management; with my experience as a player, I can sometimes see things differently,” he says. “The relationship works well because of those perspectives.”

The invisible game behind the game

From Christmas planning sessions to summer hand-watering, the work of GreenBay’s grounds team is a quiet choreography of preparation and problem-solving. As expectations in football rise, so too does the professionalism of those who tend the pitches beneath the players’ feet - a hidden, relentless game of strategy, resilience and pride.

And as Paul notes, the same goal drives them every year: “Once the season starts, my target is always to get to Christmas; if you get to that point and still have good grass coverage, you are doing well and can get through the winter.”