By Aston
April 12 2006
Ipswich Town Groundsman Alan Ferguson has won the championship Groundsman of the year for the third year running.
Despite it not being at its normal high standards the Portman Road pitch was voted the best out of the 24 clubs in the championship. Ferguson: “To be fair, it's probably the poorest quality pitch that we have won the award with. “The judging panel said that the very low temperatures we have had in this country through the winter have caused problems up and down the country and they actually had to build that into their equation when deciding the marks. “The total mark was broken down into 40 per cent from the referee, 30 per cent from the visiting manager and 30 per cent on the final judging day with the pitch being inspected close up. “We're obviously delighted to have won the award again but it won't disguise the fact that we know we have issues to sort out to improve the pitch and we'll continue to look for the best answers to those problems.” Source: Ipswich Town - the official website