The development and management of the pitches at St. George’s Park generates a continuous flow of data. One challenge for Head of Grounds and Estate Alan Ferguson and his team was how best to capture this data to get the maximum benefit from it.

During a visit to Iceland Alan first came across GrasPro a user-friendly data collection system built by groundsmen for groundsmen. Having tried out several other sites in an attempt not only to log all the information accurately but also to have the ability to create reports to support capital requests Alan saw enough from a trial in a local hotel to run a trial for year at St. George’s Park.

“For me, a crucial part of my job is to monitor the various programmes of work and to be able to bring this together on one site is a huge advantage.”– Alan Ferguson, Head of Grounds and Estate at St. George’s Park

Once all the information is gathered, Alan and his team can generate reports to support the work they are doing. To also be able at a glance to look and see how much NPK has been applied through the fertilizer programme or how much water has been applied on to any of the 10 grass pitches increases the efficiency of the overall management programme.

As well as all the day-to-day information, the annual renovation data is also collected and analysed allowing an accurate historical record to be built up.

As well as now being able to monitor work on the grass pitches Alan and his team also capture data from the parks five synthetic pitches.

Working closely with GrasPro Alan and Head Groundsman Ed Mowe whose job it is to enter all the data onto the system on a daily basis are looking to further develop what is already a user-friendly site. As the FA group pitch project expands, it is hoped that GrasPro will become an essential management tool in helping make the right decisions at the right time.

GrasPro is the latest addition to an ever-growing list of support that has been built around the on-site team enabling the excellent reputation of St. George’s Park to be maintained and developed.