The University’s investment in sport in recent times is easy to see if you take the opportunity to see the new development of the David Ross Sports Village on University Park or the new astroturf surfaces at Jubilee Campus and Highfield Playing Fields.

In June 2015, Greg Smith, formerly Head Groundsman at Notts County, joined the University and set to work in improving our grass surfaces. Significant investment has gone in to the £30,000 football and rugby pitches to improve drainage, grass cover and the overall quality of the facilities.

To ensure our artificial surfaces are also maintained to the highest standards, we’ve recently taken delivery of a small Kubota tractor to look after five artificial surfaces on University Park, Jubilee Campus and Highfields Playing Fields. The tractor is designed to clean and brush the surfaces to ensure they perform well, last longer and protect those using the surfaces.

The purchase is in partnership with the Nottinghamshire FA and the Premier League who have part-funded it to support the use of artificial surfaces by local community teams who use our facilities when the University’s own teams aren’t using it. These can be relatively junior teams, but we have also enjoyed hosting both Notts County Ladies and Mansfield Town in the past year too.

On Wednesday 29 June, six members of Uni Grounds Staff with outside partners attended a training course on management and maintenance of artificial surfaces. This is to ensure that expertise is spread across our staff and is part of a long-term link with FA and Institute of Groundsmen.