making turf matter
Q&A withwww.turfmatters.co.uk wayne lumbard
www.turfmatters.co.uk
making turf matter
Q&A with Wayne Lumbard, Head Groundsman, Wolverhampton Wanderers FC – Molineux stadium and training grounds
Wayne’s winning ways at Wolves Wayne, how did you start your career in Groundsmanship and how long have you been with Wolves? I have been with Wolves 13 years and started on a Youth Training Scheme on my local council, looking after fine turf among other things. What has been the most challenging aspect of the job and what changes and innovations have you seen? Meeting expectations of others and yourself and always wanting to be the best. The weather conditions in winter. Innovations would include Verti-drain, Koro Machine, Lighting Rigs and better constructed pitches. You have experienced the highs and lows of working in the Football Leagues, what has the
feeling at the club been like in the last season and how has this affected you and your team? It was great to be a part of it all, as we finished up getting promoted; well worth the ups and downs and now on to the Premier League. We know that you work with David Snowden, of Agronomic Services Ltd, why has this partnership been such a success? Working with David has been a great relationship and has got better over the years. Just starting off with Oxy Rush on one pitch and now I use all the range on all my pitches and the results I get every time are first-class. Are there any products that have enabled you to reduce disease pressure? The full range including Agronomics Liquids and Floratine Foliars helps to
The Grounds Team celebrate success at Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, from left, Ken Bates, Tim Warwick, Anthony Parker, Wayne Lumbard (Head Groundsman), Lewis Gough, Chris Lane
keep the plant at its optimum health all year round, so the plant has a fighting chance. With the range of products there is always a solution to every problem for all seasons of the year. How do you manage your pitch renovations and what period of time do you usually have before play returns to the Molineux? Renovations start in April where we take out of action two pitches to get them back into play at the start of the season. We use Eon Bio and Osiryl as part of our renovations programme. Then the others are done when the teams finish and then from seed to first training session you are looking at around eight weeks. How many Desso pitches do you have now? What is the total area that you manage at the training grounds?
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Turf Matters | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2018 | 45