The move from “general garden maintenance” to Head Groundsman at a senior Football Club came as a dream come true for local man Lee Higgins.

“This is my second season as Cray Valley (PM) FC Head Groundsman” recalls Lee – who was awarded “The Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to The Club” in the summer.

“I joined the Club with limited experience working within the football industry, but it had always been a goal of mine to move from general garden maintenance to something on a bigger scale – and they don’t get much bigger than football.

I’ve been welcomed and afforded a great opportunity by Cray Valley”.

Anyone who has witnessed the many hours of toil and effort Lee puts into his work will testify to his appointment being a great move for the Club.

“I received very good feedback about the pitch and my efforts last season, despite experiencing the wettest February in British history. The pitch however, with around the clock maintenance, held up very well.”

By his own admission, “I am extremely new to the industry and every day is an education, but with the help of the volunteers here – along with the guidance of a number of good friends that have been working at some big name clubs up and down the country only being a phone call away – I’m working hard to improve my skills daily.”

So how does Lee see his role ?

“As Head Groundsman at Cray Valley, it’s my responsibility to ensure the pitch here is maintained to the highest standard and meets all League requirements. The pitch generally has a full calendar of events and it’s up to me to keep the playing surface in prime condition.”

And while we’re reflecting on a event of a Saturday afternoon match, Lee gets to work.   

“A regular working week before an event would start with setting up a cutting plan for the week, based around weather forecasts and any planned midweek events. The “playability” of the pitch surface needs to be continually monitored.

Due to the recent Covid-19 outbreak, we had the rare opportunity to start pitch renovations early for this season. Pitch One had it’s surface scarified to remove organic material from the surface of the soil, with 40 tons of 70/30 top dressing applied to help fill and level out any divots or surface imperfections.

We then applied 15 bags (300kg) of seed using a disk seeder to cut slits 3cm apart and 20mm deep to ensure maximum germination and grass growth coverage.

This also served to prevent a free carvery for the local pigeons.”

In addition to the work on the main pitch, the “Lockdown” period also enabled Lee and his colleagues to carry out extensive work on Pitch Two.

“As soon as the season was declared finished, me, Marc (Mortlock) and one of my pals completely dug Pitch Two up, put new drainage in, and erected new dugouts from scratch – all within a month”

This work was carried out whilst working on Pitch One, carrying out an extensive refit of the dressing rooms, and a variety of other tasks as the Club look to reflect the progress being made on the pitch, in and around The Artic Stadium.