IOG BEST PRACTICE
ON TRACK FOR CONTINUED SUCCESS The volunteer grounds team at the Bridge Trust Society Sports Ground is confronted by obstacles that would test anyone’s mettle
M By Colin Hoskins Features editor
26 THE GROUNDSMAN January 2018
ost volunteer groundsmen are used to working under relatively severe constraints compared to their professional counterparts, often with restricted budgets and less-than-ideal machinery and equipment. And while lead groundsman Philip Swann and his team of volunteer groundsmen at the Bridge Trust Society’s Sports Ground in Birmingham have managed to improve
their equipment portfolio, they still face some extraordinary challenges in their quest to maintain the 7.5-acre site. Located in Handsworth, a residential suburb just three miles from the city centre, the ground is triangular, so there are huge areas of wasted space. It’s accessed via a 7ft 6in alleyway – just wide enough for a Transit van – and bordered on all sides by railway lines. Access to the ground for players, spectators, club officials and the groundsmen is via a private level crossing, across a live train track.