"There are many reasons for the pitch being in good condition. The help I get from the six lads putting divots back after league games plays a big part." These are troubled times for Carlisle United. But for their groundsman, life goes on as usual. Focus on Edmund 'Ted' Swainson - Stadium Manager at Brunton Park.
Q. Please give some background information about yourself, age, education, job history, family.
I was born on 25th September, 1945 at How End Farm, Thursby. This is where my father Jack Swainson had farmed for 50 years before his death last year. My mother was Dorothy Liddle from Burgh-by-Sands - I am the fifth in a family of seven, two sisters and four brothers. Two of my brothers still farm at How End. I got married on August 6th 1966 to Pat and we have two daughters, Lyn and Shellie and a son David who works with me at Brunton Park. We have five grandchildren.
We live next to the farm house where I was born, we moved in 1966 when we were married. I have lived at How End all my life. I went to Thursby primary school, the one built of stone that used to be on the village green. Its hard to believe now when you look at the village green, that a school with four class rooms and what I remember as a large tarmac playground could fit in such a small area of grass. I moved on to Wigton secondary modern after failing my 11 plus.
Both schools have now been demolished so you could say that there is no evidence that I received any education!
Q. The pitch at Brunton Park has been in excellent condition all season - it looks like a snooker table. How has this been achieved?
There are many reasons for the pitch being in good condition. The help I get from the six lads putting divots back after league games plays a big part. A good pitch is a pitch covered in grass and replacing divots is a vital part:. My son David, who is an excellent machine operator, cuts and rolls the pitch at least three times each week. This makes a big difference. Playing some of the reserve games at Gretna helps too.
Q. Have you always worked at Brunton Park?
No, when I left school I worked on two local farms for a few months, I then went into the building trade first with Carlisle Corporation at Morton Park. Then I worked on the hand settlement at Crofton doing maintenance on the houses and building. I got the job of maintenance man at Brunton Park in 1968. My uncle Bill lived next door to the club secretary, David Dent, and he asked me if I would like to work for Carlisle United. I was interviewed by David Dent and Jim Monkhouse, they even came out to Thursby to see some of my work.
My first few years at Brunton Park were spent as maintenance man. When I first started work the Stands A and E had just been built. They were bought from a firm who specialised in sports stands but were usually built at ground level. For United they had to be fitted on cast concrete stills which left a big cavity under each end. My finest job was to build the toilets under the A stand. At that time there were no flush toilets on the terraced part at all for the ladies. I built toilets for the Paddock the Warwick Road End and the popular side. I built the breeze block wall at the back of the Warwick Road End from second hand blocks that had been part of a wall at the Petteril End which had fallen down.
Q. What does your job entail exactly and what are your prime responsibilities?
A. My job as Stadium Manager means I am responsible for everything to do with the stadium. The stadium pitch is the top priority especially when we are approaching match days and the weather is working against us. We have had a lot of wet match days since Christmas this year and have had to get help from Rickerbys with a water shifting roller which picks up water as you push it over the surface. It fills a barrel inside the roller and you have to empty it into drains at the edge of the pitch. We have used this roller for three games. It gets the game on but the pitch is still very soft.
After these games there are more divots than we can put back and on some occasions we are working on divots all week. As well as the main pitch we (myself and my son David) have to attend to the training pitch. We use the school playing fields as well as the training pitch and we cut and roll them during the season. We have to prepare pitches for reserve games and youth games. We do all kinds of building maintenance, fixing seats and toilets, doors and lights.
The stewards make reports after every game and we try to put things right before the next game. We also take on bigger jobs like the laying of the blue carpet around the pitch. We plan to do a big job on pitch drainage this close season. The drains in the pitch were put in many years ago and were back filled with the same clay that came out. This has compacted and does not drain as well as we would like so we are planning to dig out as many as we can and back fill with stone to within a few inches of the surface.
Q. What do you enjoy most about your job?
Match days when I get loads of compliments about the pitch. I love it.
Q. And least?
People saying it's the close season soon and you'll have nothing to do for eight weeks.
Q. Are you an avid Carlisle United supporter? Do you support any other football club?
I can't call myself a supporter because a supporter is someone who pays to see the games, but it means a lot to me to be part of a successful club. I don't support any other club. I would rather play football than watch but my most recent efforts at playing were so bad, I think I should give up.
Q. How do you feel after you have spent a week working hard on the pitch only to see it torn apart at the weekend dung a match?
After getting the pitch as good as we can it is frustrating to see it get cut up on match days especially if we lose. But we have to accept that it is only a football field and not a bowling green.
Q. How do you think Brunton Park compares with other grounds in the football league?
I do not go to away games so I don't know what grounds are like in our league. Our new East Stand makes our ground look good as does the new blue carpet round the pitch. The stadium is in good condition and constantly checked by all kinds of safety people.
Q. Relegation is looming. How do you feel about the club's future in the long and short term?
I am still hoping that we will avoid relegation. The fans seem to think if they win one then they are safe and if they lose one then they are going down (Fulham game). We have had one or two good years in the third division - so I suppose it could happen again.
Q. How do you spend your time when you are not at Brunton Park? What hobbies/interests do you have?
I enjoy gardening and playing pool. I like watching TV, especially nature programmes and documentaries.
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