New grounds partnership for Exeter Chiefs

Exeter Chiefs have launched a new video series to show behind the scenes of what goes into maintaining the Sandy Park pitch.

The first episode also announces the club’s new official grounds partner - DGM Ltd (formerly Devon Garden Machinery).

The three-part series will follow the work the Chiefs team does over the course of the season as they battle boots, bumps and bad weather, with support from DGM.

Ben Silk, head groundsman at Exeter Chiefs said: “There’s a lot more to it than just cutting the grass.”

“There’s a lot of preparation that goes into making it look good, and it’s keeping the surface clean and free-flowing, especially when the winter comes in and it gets wet.”

From aeration, feeding and marking to managing the effects of weather, maintaining drainage and monitoring the health of the turf, the team works throughout the week to ensure the pitch is ready for players to perform at their best.

With only a small grounds team responsible for the pitch, having reliable equipment and support is an important part of the operation.

The partnership brings together two organisations with strong roots in the South West - with DGM providing specialist machinery, servicing and technical support to the club’s grounds operation.

Steve Dommett, managing director of DGM Ltd, said: “It takes a huge amount of work. Ben and his team do thousands and thousands of steps. I think he averages something crazy like six miles a day in terms of walking up and down.

“It’s a very involved job, looking out for disease. There’s a multitude of different bits and pieces that they have to keep an eye on.

He added: “Chiefs is a big part of the local community, and as a local family business, we wanted to be part of that."

“To be able to look out on the pitch and say that we’ve had something to do with looking after it is fantastic in our eyes.”

DGM will help Silk and his team maintain the high standards required for rugby in the Gallagher PREM as well as hosting international fixtures, such as the recent Red Roses v Canada which saw a sell-out crowd at Sandy Park.

For Silk, the reward comes when the players run out in front of a full Sandy Park.

“It’s probably every match day, when the place is full and the pitch is looking how we want it to look,” he said. “That’s when you sort of sit back and go, ‘Actually, we’ve done all right this week.’”

You can watch the 10-minute video on YouTube here.