Ryan Golding, head groundsman at the Emerald Headingley Stadium, home to Leeds Rhinos rugby league and Yorkshire Carnegie rugby union clubs, believes that Limagrain’s MM60 grass seed has been integral to the success of the pitch.
Ryan has worked at the stadium for fifteen years, and as head groundsman for the last four. Pitches include the stadium pitch, two first team pitches, four academy pitches, a 3G pitch and the Stanningley rugby league club.
“On average, with both first teams and academy games we host around 50 – 60 games,” says Ryan. “We also have under-19 games, community games, disabled rugby games, and also events. It is a very intense work place and it never stops, but it’s interesting, challenging and enjoyable.”
With such a heavy fixture list, renovations largely depend on available windows, but Ryan tends to aim for June each year. However, where many groundsmen may have extended periods throughout pre-season, Ryan has as little as 26 days to get the pitch up and running again.
“Getting the right seed is key and that is why I use Limagrain’s MM60,” he says. “We had been with another seed supplier for a number of years but I felt we needed a change to keep on improving. I looked into it and spoke with other groundsmen who use Limagrain and received nothing but excellent feedback.
Limagrain’s MM60 grass seed is renowned for producing an excellent playing surface in a stadium environment. It is a 100% Ryegrass formula which is perfect for renovation and divot repair, has a high disease resistance, fantastic aesthetic qualities and offers extremely fast germination, boosted by the inclusion of Headstart® GOLD.
“The germination is incredibly fast and I’ve noticed a particular improvement in the centre spot,” says Ryan. “It was always a problematic area in the past but MM60 has made a noticeable improvement especially when combined with sheets and lighting rigs. I’ve also noticed that it doesn’t fray the leaf edge when compared to our previous seed so we tend not to get as much disease – we hardly encounter any leaf spot as a result from stress and there is no yellowing of the leaf either.”
Furthermore, Ryan was quick to praise the customer service he receives from Limagrain.
“Suppliers have to understand the needs of the pitch and the Limagrain team know the standards here which certainly helps – the back-up is great. I can call them whenever I want and we will normally start with a general discussion about rugby before going into the technical side of things. Personally, I think that Limagrain treats each and every customer the same – and that is a fine art if you ask me.”
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