Jonathan Calderwood, the 2009 IOG Groundsman’s Groundsman of the Year, talks to Jim Fortune about what makes him the envy of his peers
Expectant of more footballing silverware, Premiership club Aston Villa FC has nevertheless just bolstered its historic trophy cabinet with the IOG Groundsman’s Groundsman of the Year Award, collected by Grounds Manager Jonathan Calderwood at the IOG Industry Awards held at the Emirates Stadium.
One of the new era of 30-something head groundsmen assuming top positions in sport, Jonanthan, like so many of his peers, dons the mantle of pre-eminence with diffidence while acknowledging the role of the club, particularly its billionaire owner, in his career fortunes and aspirations.
“They know how important the grass is for our players’ performance and consequently our results, so they allow me to do my job properly.They can see for themselves that it pays off,” he says.
In an industry peppered with remarkable (if often unsung) professionals, Jonathan Calderwood’s achievements stand out - and if ever there a case of being the right man in the right place at the right time, then he is a shining example.
Starting out in his Northern Ireland home country with a week’s work experience at Glentoran Football Club, which he had supported in his youth, Jonanthan knew he had found his vocation.
“I always wanted to work in football,” says the 31-year-old. “After my stint at Glentoran, the club lost its head groundsman, so they asked me to step in.” Gaining his NVQ in horticulture from Greenmount Agricultural College, Antrim, he moved to Myerscough College, Preston, to study for an HND in turf science and sportsground management.
His big opportunity – and dilemma - came in 1997 when he had the chance of a work placement at Wembley Stadium.
“It was that or Los Angeles Country Club in Bel Air, where I had planned to take up a position. The club attracts all the movie stars so I could rub shoulders with the famous and, although I play golf, I live and breathe football. The day before I was supposed to leave, the Wembley opportunity came up - and I couldn’t let it pass.”
He rose to become deputy head groundsman before redundancy in 2001 when the old stadium was levelled. “My last job was to dig up the pitch for it to be sold for charity,” he recalls.
The next chapter in his rise to prominence came soon afterwards. “Head groundsmen’s positions are hard to come by in football, so when contractor Sportsturf Maintenance approached me, I leapt at the chance.” The company held a contract with Wolves and the head groundsman’s post was vacant – a position he filled eagerly.
Former England manager, Graham Taylor, had seen what he had achieved - including lifting the then First Division’s Groundsman of the Year award in 2002/03, so by 2003, Taylor, now managing Aston Villa for the second time, singled out Jonathan. Still employed by Sportsturf Maintenance, he began working at the stadium, as well as holding down the Molineux post and also advising Brian Little’s Tranmere Rovers on how to maintain its playing surface.
The purchase of Aston Villa in 2006 by Randy Lerner marked a milestone for Jonathan. “He wanted to invest heavily in facilities and he asked me to come and work for him full-time as the new grounds manager. The move was the best thing I’ve done in my life.”
Successfully holding down three groundsmanship posts is surely the mark of a man able to juggle his time effectively – “I just don’t know how I managed it but it was a good learning curve” – and it’s a skill he brings into play every day for Villa, where he and his team not only manage the Villa Park pitch full-time but also oversee day-to-day maintenance of the new first-team practice pitches at the Bodymoor Heath training complex and what are now the academy team practice areas on the same site, as well as his daily management tasks at club HQ.
Chairman Lerner’s multi-million pound investment in training facilities heralded a host of new playing surfaces there, as well as a new pitch for Villa Park, a huge fleet of maintenance machines, equipment and vehicles and a ten-strong support team, some of whom were handpicked by Jonathan. “I am fortunate in having the staff, the budget and the machinery to achieve results,” he says, “and in working for a club that understands the demands of our job.”
Bodymoor Heath’s reported £20 million revamp includes new £5 million-plus floodlit facilities and three full-size first team practice pitches - one a replica of Villa Park’s Desso surface including its camber undersoil heating and irrigation, two Fibresand pitches plus a 3G full size synthetic pitch. The original training areas accommodate academy teams on seven full size pitches laid on a 70:30 sand:soil substrate.
Praise is something traditionally thin on the ground for turfcare professionals in football as anywhere else, he acknowledges, though he believes the climate is changing slowly. “It’s a shame that people’s perception of the job hasn’t moved with the times; so much good work goes unnoticed. I’m lucky in that respect at Villa - and that’s where the IOG Awards help raise the profile of the industry and of what we do.
“When a club hears that the work of their grounds staff is being acknowledged, that has a knock-on effect and management wants to capitalise on that. Also, the recognition of a job well done gives groundsmen the ammunition to go back to their bosses and seek to negotiate better terms and conditions. That’s got to be good for the industry.”
Lerner’s investment helped introduce radically new thinking at Villa, he explains. Each of the first team pitches was constructed to specifications matching those of other Premiership grounds – “the traditional 70:30 sand:soil mix, the 98 per cent sand-based Desso surface, with its three per cent synthetic inclusion, the Fibresand pitches laid at Old Trafford and Chelsea, for example, and the 3G surface at CSK Moscow’s stadium, where Villa played in the EUFA Cup.
“The philosophy is to utilise the pitches to acclimatise players to the conditions they’ll encounter at other Premiership clubs or in Europe. Players will train on the appropriate surface for three days before an away game to become familiar with it. Manager Martin O’Neill is very pitch oriented and supports our work 100 per cent. ”
After using Johnsons’ (DLF Trifolium/Johnsons) mixes at Villa Park since he arrived in 2001, Jonathan chose to seed the new surface with J Premier Pitch. “I looked at several options, choosing the Premier mix of cultivars because the grass holds good winter colour and has a bristly, upright, hardwearing sward that springs up immediately after its stepped on – in contrast to some soft lush grasses - encouraging really good ball roll.
“It is essential to keep the grass perfect and to cut it in a way that the ball may glide over the surface. Players become better this way, our results hopefully improve and we attract more television viewers for broadcast matches.”
He constantly cuts and trims the surface, fertilises fortnightly and spray treats with fungicide when needed to fend off any disease that may take hold because of the lack of air movement in the stadium and the shadows cast by the stands. Hands-on in his approach, he constantly puts in the hours to complete the practical work of brushing, mowing, spraying and ‘dragging the UV lights around’.
Clearly, Jonathan has brought an enviable skills set to Villa. “I’d say it was the mix of my know-how built up over the years and my qualifications. I was able to try out lots of variations of seed, aeration and fertiliser at the different clubs I worked for, then place the best elements into one basket at Aston Villa.”
As one of 12 senior managers, he mixes comfortably with the good and great at Villa and is given the opportunity to do so, he says, in part because of a more streamlined mode of management that encourages dialogue, although he admits that “a suit’s not for me”. However, management style clearly plays a key role in his success, although typically he prefers to cover his team, rather than himself, in glory.
“The lads are all highly motivated; they love the job and want to excel. I joke that they have a good boss, but they see that I maintain very high standards for myself, that I work probably as long hours, if not more, than anyone and I get my hands dirty. They aspire to that I suppose.”
So, where now for the groundsman’s groundsman? “I’m in the best position I could possibly be in and have everything I want right here – support from my boss, a great team, a big budget and fantastic facilities, a new car every nine weeks, a good salary and pension.”
Perhaps the real question is: How many more trophies – his own or team honours - can his efforts help bring to Aston Villa’s cabinet?
