Led by Grounds Manager Roy Rigby, City were nominated for the fifth time in nine seasons having previously won the award in 2002/3 and Lee won this latest accolade from a shortlist of Darren Baldwin at Tottenham Hotspur, Jonathan Calderwood at Aston Villa, Paul Ashcroft at Arsenal and West Ham's Dougie Robertson.
The Award was made after a combination of marks given throughout the season by match delegates and referees, then a visit from the Sports Turf Research Institute who took into account such factors as staffing levels, experience, resources available, health and safety and overall pitch use.
Commenting, Lee said: It's a great honour to win this award not just for Manchester City but especially for the team of groundstaff including Roy Rigby, who all work hard across the three sites. Without them this award would not have been won.
“Feedback on the pitch has been very good throughout what has been an incredibly busy season. The long hours everyone puts in have been rewarded, which makes it all worthwhile.”
This has been the busiest season (most pitch use) at Eastlands since the club moved there, with a swathe of FA Cup games (every round at home) and Europa league games in addition to the Barclays League programme. Coupled with the added pressure to deliver results with a pitch due to the increased profile of the club and the investment in the pitch itself, the groundstaff team has also been busy planning for this summer's Take That concerts (eight nights in June). Also, the savage cold snap in late 2010 added to the challenges faced by Roy's groundstaff team at the stadium, the Platt Lane academy site and the Carrington training base:
- Stadium - Lee Jackson, Darren Farnell and Gary Conway
Carrington - Lee Metcalfe, Head Groundsman, with Paul Baker, Paul Watson, Craig Knight, Dan Lewis and Luke Dodge Academy - Steve Malone, Head Groundsman, with Gerard Coyne and Alan Foden.