£3000 ALLETT MOWER FOR CLUB MOST IN NEED OF A MAKEOVER

Hambledon FC in Surrey, a community team that was formed in 1906, has been crowned the winner of a national competition that set out to find the sports pitch that is most in need of a makeover.

'Pitch to Play' was launched by Allett in co-operation with the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) to help amateur sports teams and recognise the challenges facing volunteers and groundsteams at grassroots level.

Hambledon have now received a brand new £3000 Allett lawnmower, as used on pitches at high level stadiums, to help look after their pitch in the future. They will also receive pitch side sponsorship, a brand new kit and a tailor-made pitch maintenance programme from the IOG.

The Hambledon pitch was once a farmer’s field that was unplayable, but its hard working volunteers have dedicated their own time and money to transform it into a playing surface but there are still issues from its former use coming through which lead the club to entering the competition.

Leigh Bowers, sales director at Allett, said, “Hambledon’s pitch is maintained by a volunteer groundsman, who had previously won the Surrey FA award for Groundsman of the Year, but his expertise encountered problems with the pitch quality and issues with compaction and thatch due to lack of equipment. The Allett mower that the club has chosen will solve this and make his job so much easier in the future!”

Teams entered across a variety of sports including cricket, football, hockey, rugby, bowls, croquet, tennis, lacrosse, rounders, golf and even, the lesser known, stoolball!

Allett say they were overwhelmed by the amount of entries they received in the competition and the number of amateur groundsmen who are working away with incredibly limited resources.