Dave Mitchell

Name:  Dave Mitchell

Job Title:  Stadium Manager

Worked at the club since:  April 05

What does your job consist of:  One of the biggest jobs we'll be tackling is the pitch drainage at Brunton Park.  We will lift the turf off, relay some of the drainage and then keep on top of, and maintain, the whole area once it is finished.  There is all the general stadium maintenance, of course, and we'll also be involved in some of the new projects, like the training pitches and the all weather surfaces.  It's a busy old job for the foreseeable future.

What sort of things will you be doing to make things better:  The grass that we have is predominantly rye grass with annual meadow grass in there as well.  Annual meadow grass is that little weed that grows in the gaps in the patio and the cracks in the drive.  To the untrained eye it's a nice little grass but to the groundsman it's a weed, and very unwanted.  It's shallow rooted and that gives you divots as the turf isn't woven together by the roots enough.  We will be trying to incorporate better hard wearing rye grasses into it bit by bit.  We can't do the job overnight but, with better drainage, less water logging and more aeration we are going to get better roots down that will hold the turf down and stop it cutting up as much.  That's the plan but, of course, the biggest problem with this job is the British climate.  We just have to deal with what's thrown at us.  To be honest, we'll be making all the improvements we can around the stadium and that will be an ongoing job.