One of the disadvantages of being a groundsman is that not everything can be controlled, and that is best exemplified by the weather. The weather can be a groundsman's best friend or absolute worst enemy.

I really wasn't planning on writing an entire post based on the weather, but it really has been that bad. It has been a very atypical summer of weather according to the locals. There has only been one week of straight  sunshine, and its been cloudy and raining off and on since.

The main disadvantage of bad weather is not being able to cut the fast growing pitches. With that off the table, the daily tasks turn to other aspects of a groundsmans multi-faceted job.

With the pre-season right around the corner, some of the teams are already coming back to train. The Arsenal Ladies team, fresh off a championship season, has already been in a few times over the past week. Other youth teams are also starting to come in.

With those teams in training, and when there is a break in the weather, we have started to mark out pitches for them to use. Marking out pitches over here is done with a wheel-to-wheel line marker, different from most of the spray painters back in the US. It is used because it is simple, easy to operate, and, to my knowledge, has never broken down.

One of the staff, Declan Robinson, marks out the center circle using the wheel-to-wheel line marker.

The pitch lines are measured out, lined up with strings, and painted typically two times over, to ensure the line is down.

Another job that must be done each year is cleaning goals. Every year, the goals at the training ground take a beating from a seasons worth of training from the hundreds of athletes that use the facility. The goals must be cleaned of all marks and have the nets repaired if need be.

When putting on a new net, these clips must be placed all along. Putting on hundreds of them makes for a long day!

The photos below are a testament to how bad the weather has been. The house where I am staying was almost under water after a storm. The street turned into a river!

The man in the door was using a broom for about an hour to keep the water out of his house!

We made a makeshift sandbag wall to keep the water out- glad to say it worked.