Pitch Perfect

When Argyle head into their play-off fixture against Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday...

...they will do so playing on the best football pitch in the league after Argyle's groundsman Billy White won Sky Bet League 2 Groundsman of the Year award.


Assistant groundsman Marc Chenery, pictured above with Billy and Argyle stars Reuben Reid and Luke McCormick, received the award on behalf of Billy and his staff at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium. The award recognises the importance of the quality of pitches for professional football and acknowledges head groundsmen and their staff for consistently producing the best playing surfaces within their division of the Football League.


The competition is decided by marks from referees and away managers from each Sky Bet League 2 game, and then further assessed through a detailed pitch inspection and a review of management operations to determine a winner.


In Sky Bet League 2, David Mitchell of Carlisle United and Paul Knowles of Northampton Town were also both highly commended.

 

The visits were carried out in April by Dr Stephen Baker, Head of Sports Surface Technology at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI).  The awards were presented to the winners by Manchester City legend Mike Summerbee.


Congratulations to Billy, Marc and the whole team.