Pitch perfect: the man behind Ashton Gate's grass

Jack Langley has worked on the grass at Ashton Gate since 2017

When thousands of sports fans pack the terraces at Ashton Gate stadium, all eyes are on the work done by Jack Langley and his team.

Mr Langley is deputy head groundsperson at the stadium, the home of Bristol City Football Club and Bristol Bears Rugby.

"If I had my way, no one would play on the grass," he joked.

This summer's unusually high temperatures made his job even harder, with temperatures around three to five degrees warmer inside the stadium than outside.

Mr Langley first started at Ashton Gate in 2017 and has been responsible for getting the pitch ready for dozens of fixtures and concerts.

The grass is replaced and re-grown every year, and has plastic fibres woven into the surface to keep the ground strong.

It takes around an hour and a half for two people to cut the grass in one direction, and then the same to cut in another direction to create the distinctive chequerboard effect.

"If you see clips from football matches in the 1990s, it's just a mud bath, so having the plastic in there gives it that integrity for heavy usage," Mr Langley said.

"A lot of fertiliser goes on it, and we mow it all by hand, though they do drive themselves. I wish I had a sit-on mower."

The pitch at Ashton Gate is a mix of grass and plastic for durability

Weeds are rarely a problem as the grass is so tightly-knit that they can't grow there.

But Mr Langley said football and rugby fixtures did the same amount of damage to his pitch, just in different areas.

"Whereas rugby is quite concentrated with scrum areas, in football they like to kick the ground and slide tackle and do knee slides for celebrations," he said.