“Working with a seed breeder we can see how new grass varieties will work best for our pitches.” Ben has worked at Ipswich Town for ten years. Even in that short time, the game has changed, he believes. “The loss of chemicals that might have been used to fight against disease has changed the turf industry a lot,” and on top of everything else, that makes the choice of grass variety critical. “It’s really important to us as turf managers to have varieties that have more disease resistance and more drought tolerance, so they need lower inputs to create a healthy plant.” To understand how different varieties might be able to help, Ben began trials five years ago with Barenbrug-bred grass varieties on the training grounds and academy pitches. Since then he has overseen their introduction into the stadium pitch. “One advantage of working with a seed breeder,” Ben says, “is to be able to follow the development of new grass varieties and work with the breeder to see how products can work best for our pitches.” Barenbrug continues to introduce new grass varieties that have demonstrated their potential in BSPB/STRI Turfgrass Seed booklet S1 table. “We’re excited by the new varieties that Barenbrug is developing, and we want to see them in our pitch - they’re going to be top of the Table for us too”. Variety is the secret of a great performance on the pitch and in the stadium. Maintaining a healthy, consistent, and goodlooking pitch throughout the season is a battle for any professional club. It is made more difficult when faced with the combined forces of intense use, heavy wear throughout the winter, and poor light that limits growth. To combat such difficulties, grounds managers like Ben Connell, at Ipswich Town Football Club, find understanding grass varieties gives them an advantage. “The pitch at Portman Road was more than forty years old and in need of reconstruction. In 2023 a full pitch overhaul including a hybrid stitched pitch was installed,” he explains, “creating a better free draining pitch but also raising the expectations of a top quality playing surface.” “With a large stadium surrounding the pitch, we suffer with lower light levels during the winter and the big thing for us is managing that as well as possible.” BARENBRUG SPORT 2024 | PRODUCT GUIDE 33 INTRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY GROUPS GOLF CRICKET & TENNIS FOOTBALL & RUGBY RACING & EQUESTRIAN TECHNICAL & SUPPORT
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