Brian's green green grass

Player, manager, chairman and now groundsman – Brian Addison has done it all in over 50 years of involvement at Squires Gate.

Known as “Taddy” by everyone at the club, Brian achieved national recognition for his efforts on the School Road pitch last September when he was nominated by the Lancashire FA in the FA’s Groundsman of the Year awards.

As a result he was listed as one of the nominees for a national award, and his efforts for Squires Gate saw him finish in third place for step 5 and 6 clubs. He was pipped for top spot by the groundsmen from Milton United (Oxfordshire) who were in second place, and the winner North Greenford United from London.

It was the highlight of a lifetime’s involvement with the club he first joined as a young left half back in October 1957.

“I first started here when I was 18 as a player and played right through until I was 54”, Brian recalled. “I played first of all in the West Lancashire League and played my last game in the first team aged 45, but I finally finished playing when the club was in the North West Counties League, and I played my last game in a reserve team fixture at Kidsgrove in 1993 when I was 54.”

The grounds that Brian remembers from the early days are very different from the well appointed facilities that exist these days at School Road.

“Before we moved to the present site in 1960, we used to play on a pitch across the road. The changing room was like a Nissan hut, with sand on the floor, an oil lamp in the corner and no showers. I also remember going to play at Penwortham and we changed in a coalhouse at the side of the pitch alongside piles of coal.”

During his playing career Brian played in inter-league matches for the West Lancashire league, and also ran the West Lancashire League under 18s team, guiding them to two championships. Unlike many players and managers however, he was involved from an early stage in the club’s off field activities.

“I first came on the committee when I was 18 and as looking after the pitch was one of the many jobs that had to be done, I got involved and I’ve always been interested ever since.

“We took the present ground over in 1960, and it was a council tip originally so it was in very poor condition. There were dips in it of about 18 inches in places and one in particular was nicknamed “the valley of death” as referees would be running backwards and trip and fall over into it. So we had big problems for years, but we had a very good and hard working committee under the guidance of Wilf Carr, and in the 1980’s we decided to do something about it.

“We’d had a bit of help from the corporation up to then, who were the landlords, but it wasn’t until 1988 we really got stuck into sorting it out. We got grants and got the pitch done properly. It was flattened, drains were put in every ten metres along the pitch, and slits every metre across the pitch. It cost us £24,500 which is a lot of money now and we’re talking 20 years ago.”

The payback for the financial outlay is there for all to see when you visit School Road all these years later, and I asked Brian what the secret was in establishing and maintaining the pitch to the present standard.

“To get a good pitch, it needs to be well drained, well fertilised and generally looked after. If you can avoid people training on it that would be great, but obviously at out standard of football you have to accept that must happen because of the cost of training facilities elsewhere.

“The weather here on the Fylde coast does help us, as we don’t get the same sort of weather that Bacup get for example. I feel sorry for other clubs at times. It can be pouring in the likes of Bacup and Nelson and we can be enjoying sunshine here. The breeze we get off the sea helps too, and there’s really good drainage here too.

“The understanding of referees is important too. This year we were lucky one Saturday, it had been pouring down so we had an inspection on the Saturday morning. There was standing water on the pitch in places and the referee had checked the weather forecast and it was bad for the rest of the day so he called it off, and I’m glad he did.

“A week or two after that we went to Ramsbottom, and their pitch was in a similar condition to ours when the referee called ours off. On that occasion however, the game went ahead and it totally ruined the pitch. I don’t know they got on for a few weeks after that but it must have been very difficult.”

Another obvious benefit is having someone like Brian and his colleagues available to spend hours each week looking after it.

“I get help from Peter Bryant, Tony Hornby and Mick Farrer who all do their bit to keep the pitch in good condition. They mark it out and do other jobs around it and I lead the band as it were. Through bad winters I’ll come on Monday afternoon and put divots back and then lightly roll it or brush it. The team train on it on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I come down early on Friday, put the divots back and roll it again.

"On a Saturday morning Peter and myself will come down and do any other bits of work on it that we think is needed.”

One surprising point to emerge during our conversation is that Brian is entirely self taught in the art of groundsmanship.

“I’ve never had any formal training or taken any qualifications. I’ve just picked up what I know from watching people over the years, and using my loaf and looking after the ground regularly. I’ve found the best way is not to do a lot in one go, just keep on top of jobs throughout the year. We know what to do and we get on with it”.

The good news for both Squires Gate and all visiting teams is that Brian has no plans to scale down his involvement just yet.

“A lot of my friends are still at the club. I’ve been here 50 years and a few have been here even longer, a few of us have been awarded 50 years and 30 years service medals from the FA last year and we’re very proud of that. I’ll keep going as long as I can. I’m 69 now, but I enjoy doing it and as long as the club want me to do it I’ll carry on.

“Not only that, the pitch is in better condition this year than it was last year so hopefully we’ll get recognised again this year in the national awards.”

Once I’d completed my chat with Brian, two of his colleagues made a point of letting me know how much his efforts are valued.

Gate Secretary John Maguire said: “Taddy has been a fantastic servant to the club. He was a good player in his day, really tough and competitive, has been manager and chairman and now does a great job looking after the pitch. He is down here for hours on match days and the work he puts in is appreciated by everybody at the club.”

Manager Andy Clarkson said: “The pitch here is superb, full of grass and totally flat even at the end of the season. I like to get the ball down and play football and the pitch helps us with that.

“The only problem is that I feel teams raise their game when they come here, and it motivates them when they get out there and play on a pitch of that quality. We don’t play on it too much as we’ve no reserve side, which helps to keep it in good condition.

Brian and his colleagues put hours of work in to get the pitch into that condition, and we treat it with respect."

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