GMA Hall of Fame

Colin Hoskins Editor

Steve Braddock with his wife, Shuk, and daughters Jasmine and Lily at the Emirates Stadium

As Steve Braddock, head groundsman at Arsenal FC’s London Colney training ground, is inducted into the Grounds Management Association Hall of Fame, he looks back on his 40 years in the industry. It’s been a period when his mentoring skills have become as renowned as much as his turf care dedication, professionalism and attention to detail – qualities that have shaped his widely-revered grounds management expertise

AS STEVE BRADDOCK emerges this month from the nation’s second Covid-19 lockdown – a lockdown which, as a vulnerable person, prevented him from even visiting his beloved Arsenal FC training ground – the universallyacclaimed turf guru continues his personal health war on a second battlefront: his fight against skin cancer which has now developed further to affect his bones. “The last couple of years have really brought it home to me that nobody is immune to life-threatening illness,” he says. “I know I am faced with an upwards battle, but I will give it my best shot. I was told last November that I had around three months to live, but I am still here!”

Recounting the introduction of the first lockdown, in March, Steve says: “It was really difficult for me when I was told to take a laptop and work from home. But given my vulnerable state, it was for my own safety and, to be honest, I’m not sure I would have been able to cope with all the extra work that has been needed on site. I am very lucky that my staff have stepped up to the plate and they have made me really proud of their achievements.“

His team at London Colney includes his deputies Daniel Bickerton and Andrew Purser – “they have both stuck with me from day one at the training centre” – as well as Stuart Aiston, “who has suffered me for about 15 years”. Steve comments: “If it wasn’t for these people, along with others who have been with me longer than a five-year stretch, I would not have been able to achieve what I have at the training ground nor, indeed, would there have been such an impressive conveyor belt of good grounds professionals produced by Arsenal FC.”

Steve is full of praise for Arsenal FC, the club’s stadium and facilities director John Beattie and former club manager Arsène Wenger “who has always believed that the pitch is as important as the player.” “They have always supported me in everything I’ve done and provided the appropriate resources

Part of Arsenal FC’s London Colney training ground

– both in terms of experiments in turf care and products as well as in the way I have trained and mentored my staff,” he adds. The amenity suppliers Steve has worked with over the years are also praised: “They have always embraced my enthusiasm for innovation and their input has also been indispensable.”

Management style

He admits that ‘tough love’ has been a central theme of his staff management, training and mentoring strategies. “I don’t believe there’s a rule book on how to manage a team of people. Because everyone is different, what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for another. Managing people successfully is a knack; it’s like having the natural ability to look after sports turf.”

Indeed, Steve’s innate ability to simply look at the turf and know when and how much to water and fertilise, when to apply herbicides and pesticides, and how short (or long) to cut has not only earned him revered status among his peers, but along with his mentoring skills was a key factor in Steve collecting the 2009 Grounds Management Association (nee IOG) Lifetime Achievement Award. Now, as he surpasses more than 40 years in the industry, his inspirational innovation and leadership, knowledge and passion have led to his induction into the GMA Hall of Fame, joining the late Eddie Seaward MBE of All England Lawn Tennis Club fame.

“What gives me so much satisfaction is listening to past employees who have gone on to achieve great things saying there were times when I was very difficult to work with, but that they now understand why I am like I am. From my point of view, I know I’m a hard taskmaster and I think there’s nothing worse than people who don’t fulfil their potential.” Naturally, he insists that his team members must be ‘on board’ with his way of thinking which he admits is very disciplined and finicky – even to the point of obsessiveness.

“I’ve always been the same ever since I started in grounds care at the Royal Veterinary College, which I joined basically as a stop-gap until an apprenticeship became available in the fire service. However, it was at the college where I started to establish a reputation for producing high-class pitches, learning as I went along [‘basic’ turf care NVQs were gained while at Arsenal]. A chance meeting with George Graham, then manager at Arsenal FC, led to an interview for the head groundsman’s role at the old

Steve Braddock – an inspirational force

“Steve ‘Brads’ Braddock’s induction into the Grounds Management Association Hall of Fame is in recognition of his outstanding career at the forefront of professional football at Arsenal FC, as well as his contribution in influencing and shaping the careers of many others. His innovation and leadership, knowledge and passion are truly inspirational.”

Geoff Webb, CEO. Grounds Management Association

Team members with Steve for more than five years, from left: Dan Osborne, Keith Miller, Sam Purser, Anthony Edmends-Fahey and Lewis Smith. The team also includes Mike Bath and Malcolm Twitchin who were unavailable for the photograph

Staff that have been with Steve for less than five years, from left: James Franklin, Tom Bowditch, Louie Moore and Jack Elkins. The team also includes Jeremie Male and James Attfield who were unavailable for the photograph

Skin cancer – check it out!

Steve Braddock’s desire to highlight how “even the most innocent looking skin mark” can quickly evolve into a lifethreatening disease prompts his plea to encourage anyone with a scab or a mole “to get it checked out – don’t leave it.”

He adds: “My problem started with a mark on my back, which I had removed. But six months later and with pain throughout my body, an MRI scan revealed that unfortunately the cancer had travelled to my bones.”

Initially prescribed an immunotherapy treatment – which proved unsuccessful – Steve is currently undergoing chemotherapy. “Importantly, the doctors tell me to keep as active as possible,” says Steve, “which is why I try to complete 10,000 steps a day when not suffering the aftereffects of chemo or being in lockdown.”

Steve’s deputies, from left:- Dan Bickerton, Andy Purser and Stuart Aiston

Highbury stadium. I didn’t think the interview went that well. I remember being asked whether I had any questions and instead of enquiring about things like conditions of employment, all I could think to ask was whether David Rocastle would be fit for the coming season!

Job satisfaction

“Being an Arsenal fan and getting the job was like putting a kid into a sweet shop, and I’d like to say that you could see an improvement in the pitch during my first season. But disaster struck in the second season, with the surface falling apart. We knew the pitch was past its sell-by date so, during that summer, we had a new surface installed by Hewitt Sportsturf. That lasted from the 1989/90 season right up until the club moved to the new Emirates Stadium in 2006, thanks to monumental pitch care achievements by my successors at the stadium, Paul Burgess – who stepped up from being my deputy when I moved to London Colney – then Paul Ashcroft who has been in charge ever since Paul went to Spain.”

Steve’s move to London Colney in 2002 has allowed him to feed an insatiable appetite for knowledge, he says, and while the remit at the training ground is to have the pitches as good as the stadium surface, the 15-hectares site has given him the freedom to experiment. While cancer has really taken over Steve’s life during the past two years, it’s not stopping him from continuing to push the boundaries of turf care by constantly seeking alternatives (in terms of products and techniques) that may challenge convention. “The London Colney site has given me the freedom to investigate every aspect of turf care – for example, new seed varieties, fertilisers, water applications and growth retardants. You name it and over the years I’ve probably investigated it. And now, despite my illness, I am continuing with a project that, if successful, could be a game changer in terms of global warming as well as dealing with waste disposal!”

Even during this chapter in his life when he is faced with serious illness, 56-year-old Steve’s enthusiasm for innovation and improvement will not surprise anyone who knows him. He is, indeed, a game changer in his own right and is a much-deserved inductee into the Grounds Management Association Hall of Fame. ■